As you know the holiday seasons are here for our students. Some are celebrating Eid, some will celebrate Christmas, some Kwanzaa, some Hanuka or other traditions. For many children this time of year is all about getting. We hear a lot of "I want.......I want.......I want" but it is so important to teach them to give. This year in room 411 we have three families that have used the Ronald McDonald House Charities personally and they have given us permission to share their stories. We will give each of them a page to share their stories as the community service project unfold.
This is Leah's second year with us at United Services. Her mother and father, Caren and Mark asked us if we would pick the Ronald McDonald Charities for our classroom community service project this year before she graduates and moves onto "big" school. Leah was born early and was a micro-preemie, weighing just 1 pound 6 ounces at birth. She spent many months in the neonatal unit before she could come home. She needed many surgeries and her parents had to spend many nights and days at the hospital with Leah over the next year. Caren and Mark have shared with us how much stress it took off of them to just be able to not have to leave the hospital to take a shower, do their laundry or just relax and still be able to stay close to Leah. This charity is so close to their heart and we they approached us about doing this project we knew this was the right thing to do.
Noah is also going off to big school this year. He too has spent a lot of time in the hospital and his parents have too. He still has to go to the hospital. Sometimes he still gets sick, but he tells us he always gets better and gets to come back to school and play with his friends. The doctors and nurses make him better. And the Ronald McDonald Room at the hospital make his parents feel a little bit better during the long days and nights they stay by Noah's side during the times he is sick.
Ms. DeJa is our practicum student who is with us on Tuesdays. Her son suffered severe trauma during child birth and still has chronic medical needs. He suffered brain damage due to lack of oxygen at birth, has a trachea tube for breathing and get nutrition through a g-button. He has to spend time at the hospital and Ms. DeJa sometimes has to spend a lot of time there too. She has used the Ronald McDonald Room many times to rest, do laundry and shower so she could stay close to her son Journey.
Ronald McDonald House Charities of Saint Louis website link
For our classroom community service project we are collecting items for the Ronald McDonald House and Family Rooms. You can go to the link above to get more complete information about this charity. We have also set up a page just for communicating about our classroom project. You will see flyer's, posters and power point presentations about our project over the rest of the school year. We are doing this project in honor of several of our students and teachers that have used the St. Louis Ronald McDonald House and Family Rooms Charities and have benefited from them directly. Let us teach the children that no matter how small you are you can always make a big difference. Start collecting these items. Bring them into the classroom. We will create a collection box. We will also arrange an after school field trip to deliver these items so the children can see the Ronald McDonald House in person and see where the donations are going. The information below came directly from the RMHC website. I included it into this post so you could see how many people RMHC helps each night.
To keep our Ronald McDonald Houses and Ronald McDonald Family Rooms running as a home, we rely on Wish List item donations. Fifty-nine families stay at our Houses each night and we could use your help in making their stay as comfortable as possible. More than 4,000 families use the Family Rooms each year as well.
We also have eight long-term apartment families who stay at RMHC anywhere from three months up to a year. Many children living in the apartments are immune suppressed. Because of this, these families must cook for themselves. Every week the families fill out a shopping list and we try to fill it and deliver it to them. We are especially low on food items and cleaning supplies. We could use your help!
Ronald McDonald Family Rooms
When families walk into one of our Ronald McDonald Family Rooms, we want them to forget they're in a hospital.
Often steps away from a pediatric or intensive care unit, Ronald McDonald Family Rooms offer a place of refuge to families in the hospital where their child is staying because of illness or injury.
In St. Louis there are three Ronald McDonald Family Rooms: one at St. John's Mercy Children's Hospital, one at St. Louis Children's Hospital, and the latest Family Room opened at SSM Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center in October 2008.
In 2009, more than 4,000 families found comfort and care at one of our Family Rooms.
Family Room Wish List
Pre-packaged, individually wrapped snack foods including:Cookies, soups, breakfast bars, hot chocolate, trail mix, dried fruit, peanut butter or cheese sandwich
crackers
Travel-sized items:
Diswasher detergent, laundry detergent (high-efficiency), disinfectant spray, disinfectant wipes
Misc.:
Adult sizes (men and women) of scrubs, individual boxes of crayons/coloring books, adult board games
Gift Cards:
Cleaning Supplies:
Disinfectant spray, cleaner, and wipes
Hand sanitizer in the pump container
Soft Scrub
Air freshener, (
Liquid and soap in the pump container
Laundry Supplies:
Softener Sheets
Laundry detergent
Kitchen Supplies:
Dishwasher detergent
Ziploc baggies, (small and large)
Pots and pans, (approximately 16 qt.)
Event and Entertainment Tickets
