Day Two :: Ronald, Meet Social Networking

Facebook.

Twitter.

Blog.

I think that at this moment, 4.01pm EST, the Ronald McDonald House of the Bluegrass is just about as socially wired as any college student walking around campus in their sweatpants and oversized UK hoodie [sans coat on this 8 degree day, of course]. I've spent most of the day updating events, posting notes, adding admin, changing info and Twittering. [Is "twittering" in this context an official verb? If not, I'm making it one.] Needless to say, my eyes are complaining and my fingers are ready to touch something other than a keyboard. Don't get me wrong, it's been a great day, just a day of getting settled and finding where everything stands.

Timeout -- just got a story lead in the kitchen. Back in a bit.


Okay, back. It's now 4.40pm and there is a whirlwind in the kitchen! Turns out that the Phi Theta Kappa chapter of Bluegrass Community Technical College is cooking dinner tonight and they are in a cooking frenzy. Just to reinforce proof of their organized chaos, they have a dry erase board set up on one of the counters listing every job that needs to done and at what time they need to be done and who is doing it. [I'm thinking of hiring them to run my life.] For most of them, it's their first service project as a PTK member, so this is all new to them. They are all smiles and all exuberant to be here, each of them with their own story and excited to tell it. I stood and talked with a few of them as they chopped and simmered away, listening to them tell me about themselves and why they're here. Santy told me about her studies as a travel major, to which I responded "There's a TRAVEL major?? I went to the wrong school!!" She laughed at my response and I joined her, hoping she wouldn't notice my inward disappointment. I think my favorite story that I heard was from Kristen, who is 37 and back in school studying programming. [She also has a really awesome tattoo on her arm.] I asked why she was here and her face lit up with a smile. She said that a Ronald McDonald House in Texas had really stepped up for her and her family a few years ago when they experienced a sudden death. She said that the people at RMH had gone especially out of their way to help them as they went through that hard time, and that she greatly appreciated it, even to this day. I must say, that is one thing I've noticed about volunteers here who have had a prior experience with RMH - they are still appreciative and eager to tell you about it years and years later.

Well, that's all from the house today.

-- Sara Jane