These past 7 days have been a whirlwind of celebration at Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Ohio. On March 17, our RMHC chapter celebrated 4 decades of service to families seeking care from Columbus hospitals for their children. At the same time the community was observing that milestone, preparations were also being made for the groundbreaking ceremony, just days later, for the expansion of our current house. Today, board members, families, volunteers, and local dignitaries gathered to break ground heralding the start of construction on two wings being added to the current building at 711 E. Livingston Avenue. One wing will house new offices, a new main kitchen/dining area, and auditorium space while the other wing will accommodate more than 80 rooms for families to stay near their children. Those rooms will provide 2,ooo additional nights of rest each year for families, bringing the total nights of rest provided by the House to more than 6,500. With a total of 202 rooms, this will bring the title of “Largest Ronald McDonald House in the world” back to Columbus.
NBC4’s Matthew Herchik, reported on today’s groundbreaking festivities, speaking to one family that’s currently staying at the House and our CEO, Dee Anders. Click the image below to see his story of today’s momentous occasion.
To mark the occasion of both the 40th anniversary and the start of the new expansion, animation video creators Pixel Park, made a wonderful short movie with video visits from some families that have stayed at the House in the past and released the video on March 17. Click the image below to watch the heartwarming video.
To learn why we have A Million Reasons to grow again and see how you can help us house even more families by supporting the expansion, click here.