Locals help keep the house that Ronald built alive Students from Ed/Met serve on McDonald House junior board BY KATHY CHANG Staff Writer NEW BRUNSWICK - The 16 members of the Central New Jersey junior board are one of the many groups who help keep the Ronald McDonald House, which provides "a home away from home" for seriously ill children and their families, in operation. The members of the junior board, who are all from the Edison and Metuchen area and range in age from a seventh-grader to a freshman in college, brainstorm ideas for fundraisers throughout the year that go toward the house. "If we put ourselves in their shoes, we would want someone to be helping us," said Kerry Dougan at a meeting July 3 to discuss upcoming fund-raising plans. Dougan, whose mother, Helene, is the adult adviser for the board and organized the board when the house was built in May 2005, has been a member of the board since then. The junior board will host a fundraising event at the Somerset Patriots game at 7 p.m. July 31. They will have concession stands set up near the first base and third base. Recently, the board raised $3,300 at a bowl-a-thon and purchased a Ronald McDonald statue and a bench for the house. "The kids are fabulous," said Kathy Dennis, house manager for the New Brunswick house. The board participates in the annual open house, which invites families who have lived in the house back and includes games and face painting for the kids. More than 125 people came to the open house this past year. The house, which operates solely on donations, has six bedrooms - each featuring a private bath, phone line and answering machine, a fully equipped kitchen, a common living room, a playroom, a teen room, laundry facilities, and a backyard with a playground for the children. The New Brunswick house has two disability accessible rooms available. "Each bedroom was sponsored by a different company, group, or person, and each room has a theme such as under the sea and the John Deere farm room," said Dougan. The Family Career & Community Leaders of America [FCCLA] group at J.P. Stevens High School in Edison sponsored the biggest room at the house with the theme under the sea. The room provides two beds, two closets, and a couch that opens up into a bed. "This room is for a parent who, for instance, comes with their sick child and also brings their other children and another adult to take care of their other children," said Dennis. A map outside the playroom shows the different places where the children who currently are or previously were at the house, are from. The places range from New Jersey to Egypt, Iraq, England and France. The house recently housed a 4-year-old girl named Sara Hadi, who was sponsored by the Rotary Club, and her family from Baghdad, Iraq. "She came to receive heart surgery," said Dennis. "She stayed with her family here since January and just recently went back to Baghdad." Linda Lachesnez, night residential manager, said right now they receive requests by families recommending other families of the house. "We never turn anyone away, but unfortunately the house was full up until a week ago, and we did have to turn some away," she said. "We would definitely like to expand the house in the future." Dennis added that there is no time limit for families to stay at the house as long their child is seeking medical treatment and children up to 21 years old can stay at the house. "The average length for families to stay is two weeks," said Dennis. "However, we have had families stay from just one night to as long as nine months. As long as they need us, we are here." The Ronald McDonald Houses are located near children's hospitals and offer families a refuge 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The house in New Brunswick is across the street from the Bristol-Myers Squibb Children's Hospital and is the sister house to the one in Long Branch. "The Robert Wood Johnson Hospital reached out to us," said Dennis. "Since they are currently expanding the hospital, they saw a need for the services of a Ronald McDonald House in the New Brunswick area." Dennis said it was nice to see everything come together. "We have many people come to us asking if they could sponsor a room," she said. "We have a muralist who comes and paints the pictures that are on the wall. Groups come by and paint the walls. Everyone donates their services." The homes are part of the larger, internationally recognized Ronald McDonald House Charities with a reputation for excellence in client service and professional ethics. Although the homes are part of the greater international effort, a local board of trustees, staff and volunteers run the Long Branch and New Brunswick houses autonomously. An NFL team, a children's hospital, and a restaurant chain teamed up to form The Ronald McDonald House in Philadelphia in 1974. They wanted to create a place where parents of sick children could be with others who understood their situations and provide emotional support. The partnership began when Kim Hill, the 3-year-old daughter of Philadelphia Eagles tight end Fred Hill, was diagnosed with leukemia. Hill and his wife camped out on hospital chairs and benches, ate food from vending machines and did all they could to keep Kim from seeing their sadness, exhaustion and frustration. Hill rallied the support of his teammates to raise funds to help other families experiencing the same emotional and financial traumas as his own. Through the Philadelphia Eagles general manager, the team offered its support to Dr. Audrey Evans, head of the pediatric oncology unit at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Since the first house was built, local communities throughout the world have founded 251 Ronald McDonald Houses in 27 countries, serving more than 6,000 families every night. For more information on the Ronald McDonald Houses, visit www.rmh-cnj.org. For more information about the Central New Jersey Junior Board, e-mail cjbofrmhofnb@aol.com.