New Year, Same You
January 7, 2015
Alexis picking out toys for RMHC families during the holidays
By Ryan Wilkins
Every New Year, we feel the need to do something new. Lose weight. Exercise. Take up a hobby. I get it. When the calendar turns, there is a clean slate. But I wonder if we have things a bit backwards. There is a reason we are who we are, and maybe that’s not a bad thing. What if instead of trying to become someone else, you focused on being the best “you” that you could be?
Here’s why I ask. This year, as in every other year that I’ve worked at the Ronald McDonald House (almost exactly 7 years), I have witnessed some of the most incredibly generous and thoughtful gestures of love and compassion over the Holidays. We like to say that if you doubt humanity, just spend a few hours at the front desk of the Ronald McDonald House at Christmas time. You won’t believe how generous and selfless people are.
So this New Year, I hope that you, our friends, have resolved to be the same awesome selves that you were in 2014. Last year was probably our best year since opening in 1982, and that would be impossible without you. But the need is even greater in 2015, which will be our first full year in the newly expanded Ronald McDonald House.
Columbus, you are amazing. I brag about you to anyone who gives me the chance to talk about how sweet, selfless, and tenacious you are. You never see a challenge that you are afraid to face, and always amaze me with the resolve you show to support people who need your help.
So, with everything I’ve got, thank you for being you. In my opinion, you’re great the way you are. Keep being the best you, and we can conquer anything.
Thank you.
The House Full of Hope
October 1, 2014By Carly Damman
We give hope and a place to rest to Blaze and Harmoni’s family.
HOPE.
It’s just a mere four letters put its meaning is far from simple. A life without hope might mean sleepless nights worrying about your sick child, long days at the hospital praying for the best, evenings spent scrambling to get food on the table and mornings waking up with a knot in your stomach because it’s going to be another gut-wrenching day with your child.
HOPE.
A belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one’s life. Persevering through the storm. Remaining optimistic through pain and agony. Faith in things unseen. A better tomorrow. A cure.
HOPE.
We provided hope for the Smith family.
An injured runner not giving up on race day. A teenage girl and a dream that he’ll ask her to the dance. A failing report card followed by long nights studying in the library. A little boy and his aging dog. A feeling of wanderlust with empty pockets. A sick child but the will to continue the fight.
These are examples of hope; never giving up; always looking forward.
HOPE.
This is a word that’s tossed around Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Ohio on a daily basis. However, during my short three months here, I’ve had a hard time really grasping the meaning of the word. Hope can mean so many different things for so many different people. For the families staying at the Ronald McDonald House, hope is something that comes easier. With a comfortable bed, a warm meal, a hot shower and a bounty of spaces for relaxation and fun, families are hopeful. Hopeful that surgery will go well. Hopeful that a cure will be found soon. Hopeful that cancer treatments will finally work. Hopeful that doctors discover a breakthrough that brings their precious child back to health.
We provide a place of rest for Summer while she undergoes treatments at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
Working at the Ronald McDonald House has revolutionized my view of hope. I see it every day. A family that has been here for months and months greet me with a warm heart and a smile. Their child faces a life-threatening illness but still…there’s hope. It’s an honor to work at a home full of hope. Full of stress, worry, tears, challenges but above it all, full of hope that tomorrow will bring peace, comfort, joy and recovery.
Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Ohio is a special place that carries hope through the hallways, the rooms, the kitchen, the staff offices, the volunteers’ hearts and the families that we serve. For me, hope now has a deeper meaning. It’s no longer an abstract, philosophical word. It’s tangible.
HOPE is our Ronald McDonald House families.