By Debbie Conkel, Team RMHC member
Debbie Conkel
I was asked to join Team RMHC in 2015 through my involvement in the Columbus RoadRunners Club. I jumped at the chance because a close friend of mine works at RMHC of Central Ohio and has taken me through the facility several times. It’s a wonderful place and so important for families. Not having any children myself, I nonetheless can totally sympathize with the pain and fear that must come with a child being in the hospital for an extended stay. Being able to stay at a place as cheerful and welcoming as the Columbus Ronald McDonald House has to be a comfort to these families, especially those with other young children.
I’ve been a runner for many years, and have supported a few causes over the years, but I’m committed to Team RMHC because of my personal connections and for the great work that it does. I appreciate all the fun events that take place up until race day for the team and all the great people you get to meet and interact with.
I love running and would probably run the Columbus Half Marathon anyway, but it means so much more to be running for a cause. I love the fact that the race course actually goes right by RMHC, which makes it all the more special. I appreciate the support of friends and family members who have donated to the cause and I can assure them that every dollar goes to helping the families staying at RMHC which means a lot to them.
I’m looking forward to race day, and supporting Team RMHC during my run! Let’s go team, and let’s keep up the good work at Ronald McDonald House!
By Jamie Foltz, Senior Director of Strategic Partnerships
LOVE. It’s everywhere. Sure, it might be kind of hard to see plainly these days. It’s there. It’s in the goodbye hugs we give to our family every morning. It’s in the photos we see streaming through our Facebook feeds. It spills out of the doors at the Ronald McDonald House all day long. It’s all around us. L-O-V-E, LOVE. It’s everywhere, and it’s all you need. Well, except for an amazing handbag.
That’s right, an amazing handbag. Every woman out there needs one. To make her feel empowered, beautiful and ready to tackle the world. It doesn’t have to be expensive, or name-brand to be amazing. It just needs to be full of LOVE. There’s that word again. LOVE. To make a handbag amazing, it needs to represent her fully. It should signify special memories of places she carried it. It is often filled with images of the treasured people in our lives. It may carry a good luck charm or a token that makes us feel confident. It may even be an irreplaceable gift from someone important in our lives.
That amazing handbag is something women everywhere are always in search of. What does this have anything to do with Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Ohio? It just so happens that in a couple short weeks, we are offering up the chance to win one of these amazing handbags. On August 4th, the Columbus Ronald McDonald House will host Handbag Hullabaloo. Through many partnerships with area sponsors and the amazing people at Columbus Distributing, we will be giving away 20 (that’s right, TWENTY) beautiful, high-end and functional handbags. Think Gucci, Henri Bendel, Tori Burch, Valentino, Jewell and more… Handbags that are beautiful to start with and welcome the LOVE you will put into them every day they are carried.
I hope you will come out and join us for Handbag Hullabaloo. If you can’t make it in August, we will host four more events this year, including our final event of the year at Saks Fifth Ave. All funds raised from the event will go directly to providing a home-away-from-home for families with a child in our area hospitals. Come out to Scioto Reserve on August 4th, have some fun, win an amazing handbag and give back to a charity that embodies L-O-V-E.