Giving Back with Ronald McDonald House

     The Ronald McDonald House is an organization in San Diego that gives back to the community in an amazing way. Many people only have a vague sense of what they do and how they help our community, but they may not understand the full impact the organization has on the lives of so many families.

     The Ronald McDonald House in San Diego has over 40 suites that they offer to families who have children in a San Diego hospital for an extended stay. Each year, over 1400 families will stay with them, free of charge, so that they can be close to their child’s hospital. Many of the kids suffer from cancer or other illnesses that require extended stays in the hospital for treatment.

     A few members of the Joshua’s team were given the opportunity to tour the facilities and were able to see the many helpful things that The Ronald McDonald House is able to offer these families. They have a preschool, three served meals a day, a kitchen with personal refrigerators for each family’s use, a free laundry facility, computer and game rooms and diverse play areas. All of these conveniences make the lives of these families, who are going through one of the toughest things in their lives, a little bit less stressful. In addition to providing overnight stays, they also allow day visitors, who have children in the hospital, to come and use some of their resources, like meals, computers or even a quiet place to take a nap.

     We at Joshua’s decided this was an organization that we wanted to help out in some way. We coordinated with Ronald McDonald House in San Diego to help put together some of the welcome bags each family that stays overnight receives. We purchased and assembled 50 welcome bags and filled them with goodies. Each bag had a coloring book, crayons, a game, rubber ducky, stuffed animal, soap, hand sanitizer, lotion, toothbrush and toothpaste and a few other helpful essentials.

     If you are interested in volunteering for the Ronald McDonald House, check out their website for more information: rmhcsd.org