Speaking of children...


"While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about."

-- Unknown

This was a gift from a beautiful little guest at our House.

It's Almost Post Time!

Remember the days when you were a kid and you would make big plans to play outside? You'd have a whole game of pirates or superheroes planned with your friends? Or your treehouse needed some maintenance such as making new knots in your rope swing or curtains made of leaves? [Maybe not all of you grew up playing in the woods like I did...If you didn't, these tasks may not sound important, but believe me, they were.] In any case, remember those days? You'd be really excited for the day to come, looking forward to getting down to kid business. [The best kind, I might add.]

And then it would rain.

All those big plans drowned in muddy puddles, your pirate battle delayed on account of tropical storm and your rope swing sighing at the thought of one more day with loose footings. You'd be stuck staring out the window, driving your mother crazy for the rest of the day as you restlessly sauntered about, erupting with the occasional exasperated sigh.

I'm hoping this Friday doesn't find me in the same boat. It's Wednesday, two days before our Keeneland event, and it's rainy and gross outside. The Weather Channel tells me that the forecast for Friday is sunny with a high of 71 degrees, but I'll believe it when I see it. Kentucky is famous for its turn-on-a-dime weather, which could pose as an ally or enemy...it's hard to tell. The event is inside, so I don't have to worry about relocating or anything, but people are going to be all dressed up and it's no fun to dress up and go out in the nasty rain and wind. Here's keeping my fingers crossed for 71 and sunny!

For those of you coming on Friday, it's going to be a great time rain or shine! Can't wait to see everyone and spend a day at the racetrack!

And for those of you not able to make it, pictures and full summary will be available here and on Facebook!

See you all soon!

Yet Another Social Network...

Another update -- Ronald McDonald House is now on MySpace! Check us out at

http://www.myspace.com/rmhclexington

Add us!

Horses and Legends, Oh My!

So, remember how a while back I compared everything happening at the house to a day at the racetrack? Well, that's kind of humorous now because we ARE hosting a day at the races! HA! In just about a week and a half [April 17th], the Ronald McDonald House is hosting a fund raising event at Keeneland where we'll eat food, watch the races and gamble...all in the name of charity. Can a fundraiser get any better? I doubt it can. All of us interns - Marla, Erin and myself - get to attend and hang out with donors all day, so we're all pretty pumped. Not only pumped about races and fun people, but also the fact that we get to dress up, which gives me a reason [and justification] to go shopping for something lovely and racetrack worthy. [I don't know if the other two girls are as excited about this as I am.] It's not going to be a bad way to spend a spring Friday in the the lovely Bluegrass.

THEN, two days later, we're having our Ronald McDonald House night at the Lexington Legends game vs. the West Virginia Power. [Also, the name "West Virginia Power"? Is it because of the coal? Or am I missing some kind of connection here?] One of the kids from the House will be throwing out the first pitch and we will have a booth where we'll be playing games and giving out fun prizes. Any and all who are reading this should attend and come say hello!

So, as you can see, many exciting things are coming up!

On a different subject, I attended a webinar [webinar: online seminar which can also include phone dial-ins. I'm not a huge fan.] on Facebook usage for non-profit organizations. It was incredbily interesting to talk about where the world of social networking is heading, especially in the realm of non-profit. They discussed fundraising, how language is different online [stiff, serious, typical non-profit language won't work], and where Facebook is going. The woman who led this webinar is also hosting one on Twitter, which I think would be the most interesting of all. Twitter is another animal all in itself, that is currently holding the record for highest ROI. Incredible. In any case, I'm trying to wrap my mind around this whole social networking/marketing realm and it's interesting to see everyone else scrambling to do the same. Exciting times ahead.

Okay, before I go I have to tell this story. A few weeks ago, Kelly [our volunteer coordinator] and I were working late on a Friday night, trying to finish up a huge pile of volunteer letters that needed to go out the following Monday. We were tired and sick of folding and addressing and just about to go crazy from it all, when we were interrupted by one of the most tantilizing smells ever smelled. A young couple who is staying at the house generously volunteered to cook dinner that night and gloriously succeeded in preparing one of the best meals the house has ever seen. Kelly and I stuffed ourselves with a chicken alfredo concoction, seasoned potatoes, mouth-watering garlic bread and...chessmen cookies. Oh my goodness, chessmen cookies. We ate so much, that upon our return to her office, we had to take a break from doing anything. You know a meal is good at that point. The best part of the meal though was talking to the couple, who are seriously two of the sweetest people I've ever met. They're young and fun, full of hope. I love seeing them around the house, which always makes me smile. So many great people and things happening here. Maybe I'll have more on them later.

Until then.

Family Room Madness!

So, I've spent the last hour or so going through the numbers for our new Ronald McDonald Family Room, and upon final tally of the first three weeks of March, it turns out we've had 980 guests to the Room and 170 different families! What an awesome turnout! That's almost 300 more guests than in February and more than 750 more guests than January. That doesn't even count visitors from this past week either. It's so exciting to see the numbers going up every month and to hear stories of families from our volunteer workers.

But more on that to come very soon.

Until then.

Early Morning McTour

I just walked into the House to find the living room overtaken by a group of middle school boys who are being educated on the Ronald McDonald House by Sarah. I'm amazed because I don't think I've ever seen a group so excited to learn about the House. Every single one of them has asked at least one question.

Awesome.

Ronald McDonald = Rock Star

The stage was set.

Tears were shed.

The crowds were restless as they waited for his arrival.

And then, he showed up, big red shoes and all.

The children of Joseph-Beth rushed Ronald McDonald as he entered the scene, disbelief at the realization that the character on their McDonald's Happy Meal boxes was, in fact, a living and breathing entity. If you don't believe me, I would like to present Exhibit A:

The guy was like a modern day rock star. Not even Miley Cyrus would have elicited this reaction with this crowd. [Thank goodness they're too young for Miley.] Ronald hung around, made valentines, and read stories to the kids, passing out many stickers, magazines and smiles until it was nap time. A few strong ones stuck around for the encore performance of more magic tricks and pictures, all leaving completely satisfied.

All this to say, the valentine's making event at Joseph-Beth was a huge success. Not to mention, a ton of fun!

Now if only we had made some t-shirts, we could have made a profit...

Here are some more pictures for your rocking pleasure: