Caroline Baker, community outreach and volunteer coordinator for the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Iowa, was the guest speaker Monday night at the meeting of the Perry Lions Club.
Baker was the guest of Lion Andy Stout, whose family used the Ronald McDonald House in Des Moines a few years ago.
The mission of the Ronald McDonald House is to keep families together in a home-like atmosphere when a child is hospitalized, Baker said, and the services the houses provide include daily meals, laundry facilities, playrooms for children, an office workspace, kitchens and private bedrooms.
There are two houses in Des Moines, one inside Mercy Hospital and another near Blank Children’s Hospital. There is no cost or very little cost to the families. Some families have stayed for one or two nights and a few families have stayed a year.
There are also Ronald McDonald houses in Iowa City and Sioux City and in 48 Iowa countries to assist families.
Funding currently comes from the sale of shamrock shakes, and one cent of each Happy Meal sold at McDonald’s goes toward support of the Ronald McDonald Houses. They also receive grants and private donations.
Stout said that you can help by saving the pop-tops off of beverage cans and giving them to him so he can pass them on to the charity. For more information, visit the Ronald McDonald House website.
Ray Harden is the secretary of the Perry Lions Club.
