A little background on Ronald McDonald House

Welcome back for week #3! Now I’ll fill you in on some basic history on Ronald McDonald House Charities. RMHC was founded in Philadelphia, PA in 1974 with the mission of keeping sick children and their families together during great times of need. The basic founding principles of each Ronald McDonald House around the world is the same: we provide a safe, free place for families to say while their children are undergoing treatment at a nearby hospital. The specific house I am working in this summer is near Lurie Children’s Hospital- one of the premier children’s hospital in the world. We have many families from all over who are already burdened with the financial prospects of their child’s medical treatments, and so to ease this burden, we provide housing, meals, and laundry services for them free of charge. Additionally, this house I am working in now is part of a greater branch of four other houses that encompass the Chicagoland and Northwestern Indiana territories. Our house can serve up to 60 families at a time and stands as one of the largest houses within the charity. The people here are extremely dedicated to the cause, which is so refreshing! A lot of my colleagues get to know the families that stay here extremely well, which makes for a better experience for everyone involved.

One of my highlights from the week was showing one of my friends from school who just moved here for the summer around Chicago! I was able to show her a bunch of touristy activities, like taking an architectural tour on the Chicago River, going to see the famous “Bean” sculpture, and sitting on the river walk on the river. Although I got SUNBURNT through the clouds, it was a fun day to pretend to be a tourist in my own city!