Ronald McDonald House Charities in Corpus Christi recently celebrated 25 years of providing a comfortable and nurturing home environment to families with children in local hospitals. The facility at 3402 Fort Worth St., just behind Driscoll Children’s Hospital, can house up to 25 families, providing more than just room and board.
“Our mission is to take care of our families in any way that we can to support them during one of the most difficult times of their lives,” said Audrey Berry, communications director for RMHC Corpus Christi. “We have families here with children in the neonatal unit, oncology — we help families with any diagnosis and of all income levels. You never know when you are going to need a Ronald McDonald House in any city.”
Last year, 1,006 families stayed at the Corpus Christi house, coming from counties as far away as Webb, Starr, Hidalgo, Victoria and Cameron. Money from recent fundraisers will be used to upgrade guest rooms and help enlarge two of the rooms into suites to accommodate larger families.
While much of what is provided to any Ronald McDonald House comes from corporate sponsors, such as the La-Z-Boy furniture and Coca-Cola beverages (including water and juice), each community raises the majority of the operational and maintenance funds locally.
“McDonald’s helps raise money for us, but they don’t fund us 100 percent,” said Georgia Grainger, development manager for the Corpus Christi house.
Other help comes from community groups and individuals who want to give back. An indoor playroom was painted and decorated by a Girl Scout working on her Gold Star Award. An Eagle Scout turned a storage room into a workout room for families. Barnes & Noble hosted a book drive to stock an in-house library. Local groups get together in the huge, well-stocked kitchen to cook family meals for residents.
Donations are always needed for food and paper and laundry products, Grainger said, all aimed at providing a home-away-from-home for families who have had to leave their own homes to take care of hospitalized children.
Anyone wanting to give to the Ronald McDonald House Charities in Corpus Christi should call (361) 854-4073 or email ggrainger@corpuschristirmhc.com.
The house that Ronald built
The playroom at the Ronald McDonald House in Corpus Christi was painted and decorated by a Girl Scout seeking to earn a couple of merit badges. Much of the work done at the house is donated. Photo by Suzanne Freeman