Local4Local4Local and Ronald McDonald House Northern Alberta

Over the past couple of weeks we have been talking with a charity called Local4Local4Local who are heavily involved with the Ronald McDonald house. Last night we attended a mixer and were treated to a tour and story of the house. The evening was filled with laughter, excitement and even a few tears as the night went on. We were shown around the house all the way from the quilt room, to the magic room, even seeing where these families are staying.

After our tour we were able to sit down and talk with the businesses that we are going to be closely working with over the next year. My, oh, my, what a diverse group of people: Jitterbee Pancakes, Sandy View Farms, Natural Urban Mom, Revive Wellness, Key Lime Clothing, Bellies, Arbonne, Greys Recycling, Allium Food Works, Memory and Story, couple of photographers, many more. It will make for an exciting year.

The purpose of Local4Local4Local is to bring our community together for the common good. Thus was born the idea to have local businesses be of service to the house on a rotational basis in providing a dinner per month, while also supporting local businesses by purchasing all of the food for the dinner from local providers. Our jumping off point is the Ronald McDonald House. Twice a year we will be doing something called a "Home For Dinner" in which we will come into the house bringing food and we will cook dinner for the house (by "house" I mean 30 suites of individual families). We all know that some days the last thing we want to do is cook a meal. We choose to do these dinners because they know that these families will be tired after spending the day in the hospital, dealing with the emotional roller coaster of their child’s health, and the last thing they want to think about is cooking.

A lot of people may ask, what is the Ronald McDonald house and what do they do? The Ronald McDonald House Northern Alberta has been a pillar charity in our Edmonton community since 1985. They cater to out-of-town families that are dealing with a child’s illness. RMNHA have achieved a safe place for these families and their children. It is a clean, fun and open environment. They are able to come and live in this house while their child is receiving treatment and they have access to all the amenities of the house as well as in the area. Currently the house sits over 100% capacity. The charity depends on donations and support from within our community.

Some amenities that they have are:

-On-site education coordinators, who are able to make sure that the children and the siblings are not behind in their studies during this ordeal.

-“Magic Room” A place where, when children celebrate a treatment milestone or birthday they enter this room and pick a special gift (all donation based)

-Amazing staff, from the cleaning crew, on-site managers, development managers, etc.

-Warm and inviting rooms with welcome bags waiting

-Quilt room. A child can enter the room and pick a quilt that they like the best and are able to keep it throughout and after their stay.

-Teen room, play area, crafts room, TV rooms, gym and much more.

-There are so many nooks and crannies in this place that there is never a dull moment

Please stay tuned as we go along for more updates.