Ronald

McDonald
House
Charities

Lauren Jacobsen, Hannah

McKernon, Paige Knudtson,
and Jenna Richard
Demographics

Families and children

undergoing medical
treatment
Often times children
and their families do
not live in the area
How are Ronald McDonald
Houses Funded?
Individuals, organizations, and businesses:
Coca Cola
Thirty- One
Lazboy
Southwest
Dillards
Local McDonalds contribute a portion of the annual operating
cost
Cost to operate one room is $50- $100 a night
Families either stay for free or are asked to make a $15
donation
No family is turned away based on ability to pay
(RMHC, 2017)
What is the house like?

Historic 9 bedroom
house on Monument
Avenue
7 bathrooms
Large,
renovatedkitchen
Formal dining room
Living room
Laundry facility
Play room
(RMHC Richmond, 2017)
Health Resources

Ronald McDonald Houses allow for families to

stay together; which helps in the healing
process for the children
Allows for parents to better communicate with a
childs medical team
Services for families
At every House, families can enjoy:
Home-cooked meals
Private bedrooms
Playrooms for children
Health Resources Continued

Depending on the house some other resources

include:
Special suites for children with suppressed immune
systems
Accredited education programs
Recreational activities
Non-clinical support services
Ronald McDonald House Charities also offer other
health resources such as Ronald McDonald Care
Mobile that provides access to healthcare that
children need it the most (such as immunizations,
eye exams, and oral hygiene)
Mortality
Morbidity

Three major health problems:

Obesity
Asthma
Diabetes
Community Liaison

We spoke with the lead for organizing volunteer

activities
The lead was very knowledgeable and
approachable
All staff were appreciative for every activity we
completed
Community Needs

Entertainment
Daily meal preparation
Sibling entertainment
Donations (money, toys, food, etc)
Volunteers (cooking, cleaning, decorating, or
working the house)
Event organizers
Community Strengths

Consistent Volunteers
Organized Volunteer opportunities
Community support (outside donations)
Variety of activities offered
Family-centered (helps with healing process)
Affordable or free for families in need
Community Weaknesses

Only one staff member on site (on day we

went)
No first floor rooms for handicapped guests
Individuals assume that Ronald McDonald
House is mostly funded by McDonalds
Budget is limited on the number of paid staff
members
Parking
Only 9 bedrooms
Overview of Activity

Target Population: Families of hospitalized children

Days/Hours Worked: Sunday March 12, 2017; 11a-3p
Methods Planned for Evaluation: Requested feedback from
staff and offered to help in additional ways in order to
meet current needs
Resources Used:
Cards
Crayons
Coloring Books
Playdoh
Erasers
Other craft items
Community Involvement

Community strengths previously listed were

beneficial in organizing our activity. The many
volunteer opportunities and organized staff
made planning our day easy.
We involved the community at RMHC by asking
them what they needed and coming up with an
activity centered around their specific need.
Formative Evaluation

Target Population:
Ensured our target population was reached by making
age appropriate activity bags and providing services that
the staff deemed helpful to them
Challenges:
Expected Challenges: We were unsure as to what
additional activities we could help with; we overcame this
challenge by asking the staff for direction and following a
pre-made checklist the house has for volunteers
Actual Challenges Faced: We ran out of tasks, so we
picked additional chores to do in order to help out in
other ways
Summative Evaluation

The community members who were staying at

the Ronald McDonald house that we were at
were families with children of all ages
The staff members were very kind and seemed
very dedicated to the program
Many of the volunteers are local members of
the community with a wide range of ages
Our Objectives

1. Maintain a professional environment for the duration of

the volunteer activity by arriving on time and positive
interactions.
2. Provide emotional support for families in their time of
need throughout the duration of the volunteer
opportunity.
3. Provide a healthy, well-balanced meal for families
present during the volunteer activity.
4. Use our time effectively to be able to positively impact
these families during the volunteer opportunity.
5. Teach the importance of healthy eating habits to two
families by the end of the volunteer experience.
Were Our Objectives Met?

We were unable to meet all of our objectives

based on the number of families at the Ronald
McDonald House
We had no interactions with families on that
specific day
We were able to leave an impact by assisting
with cleaning the house that many individuals
call a home away from home
We were able to impact children in the hospital
by providing activity bags
Participant Satisfaction

The staff member that we worked with

throughout the day was very satisfied with our
activity bags and how well we cleaned the
house
She was excited to see the childrens reactions
to the activity bags and let us know how
appreciative they would be
We did not get to see the children actually
receive the bags or see what we did throughout
the house, but the staff member assured us
that we had done a wonderful job
Conclusion

What went well:

Very flexible volunteer opportunity
So many different volunteer opportunities even if families werent
currently at the house
What could have been done differently:
Scheduled a more interactive volunteer activity for more
interaction with families
Lessons learned:
Volunteers can make a difference in so many different ways, for
us we were able to do so by cleaning
Many families in need within our community
Volunteers are the reason for the ability for RMH to keep its doors
opened
Volunteering makes a difference!
 References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2014). Retried

from https:// www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/pdf/

leading_causes_of_death_by_age_group_2014-a.pdf

RMHC. (2017). Ronald McDonald House Charities. Retrieved

from http://www.rmhc.org

RMHC Richmond. (2017). Ronald McDonald House Charities:

Richmond. Retrieved from http://www.rmhc- richmond.org