By Laura Hadley
As a Ronald McDonald House intern, I have been working to spread awareness for the “share your stripes” campaign. For the past week, I have been collecting pictures with people wearing red and white striped socks who are #forRMHC.
I began making calls to friends informing them that they could help raise money for the Ronald McDonald House by donating their extra change at local McDonald’s registers. I also asked if I could take photos of them in their socks to help spread awareness through social media. So here I was, with my 12 pairs of red and white striped socks setting off on a journey around Columbus to snap a couple pictures. Easy enough, right?
Wrong. I quickly learned it was going to be hard to get a hold of well-known people in Columbus, get them a pair of striped socks, and get their picture taken in a short time frame. I decided to shift my focus to college students. I was able to photograph students at both The Ohio State University and Denison University. Overall, I was happy with the pictures I was able to get.
While gathering photos, I learned a few things:
- Gathering groups of college students is near impossible with everyone’s crazy schedules.
- Trying to get a picture of a mini-pig in red and white striped socks is a lot harder than you would think.
- Asking a simple favor from your friends may have more of an impact on them then you originally thought.
I found overwhelming support from my friends, which made my life a lot easier. Yet, while they all agreed to help me by putting on festive socks and letting me snap a picture, I never asked any of them to donate their money. I wasn’t even sure my out-of-state friends knew what the Ronald McDonald House was and what the organization offers to their guests. However, I kept collecting pictures and trying my best to explain what the pictures were for.
Sunday afternoon, a group of friends and I went to McDonald’s. Some of them had helped me with the photos and some hadn’t. Not wanting to make a sales pitch, I did not remind them of the donation boxes. What happened next was truly an amazing feeling – as I watched my friends order and pay, I couldn’t help but notice them dropping their change into the RMHC donation boxes. Finally, it was my turn to order and make my donation. It was at this moment, I realized my work at the Ronald McDonald House had actually impacted people.
This project has taught me that a small favor, can lead to a small donation, which is making a big difference #forRMHC. How are you going to help?