According to Ronald McDonald House of Dallas CEO Jill Cumnock,
“I would say that most people understand Ronald McDonald House of Dallas’ mission of providing a home away from home to families with seriously ill or injured children, but they don’t always know how inclusive that care can be. For instance, we provide transportation to and from area hospitals to our families living at the Ronald McDonald House of Dallas. We do this for a variety of reasons. For one thing, parking fees at the hospitals can really add up when you drive to and from the hospital over a period of days, weeks or months. Hmmm, let’s see, parking at Children’s Health is $4 per day. If your child is in the hospital for 6 months, that adds up to $720 for a family that is already facing the high cost of having an ill child.
“Additionally, many of our families who come from a small town (and most do) find driving in Dallas really intimidating and stressful. Our international families don’t even have vehicles. So providing this cost saving service is just part of our mission to provide a nurturing home away from home and reduce stress. Our wonderful front desk volunteers provide 6 roundtrips per day which adds up to about 48 passengers per day or 17,250 passengers annually. And a locally owned gas station lets us fill up for free.
“Our soon to be 15-year-old passenger van is still reliable, but it is getting old and needs to be replaced soon. So, one of our 2015 goals is to find a generous individual, company or foundation that can provide us with funding for a new passenger van. We’ll even decorate it with an eye catching vinyl so that everyone who sees it will know who donated it. Philanthropy and advertising all wrapped into one, anyone out there want to help us achieve our goal and get recognition all over town?”
* Photo provided by the Ronald McDonald House of Dallas