Ronald Mcdonald House Gala

I am so lucky to work with an amazing committee who has once again, pulled off the unimaginable. 4 years ago, my brother's MIL asked if I want to help her with a charity event. I figured why not. I had a baby, that was finally health and pretty content, and I needed to regain my sense of self. So May introduced me to the Ronald Mcdonald House. I knew of their existence, we had pod buddies in the NICU that used their services. I never had been to the house or had used them personally, but I loved their comittment to families and I KNEW how it felt to be the parent with a child who was not well and to watch his medical bills just keep growing, so I signed on for the few months she needed help.
What if you live in Utah and need to be at a hospital in California for your childs care...what would you do? where would you stay? I know we would all be out the door and say we will figure it out when we get there right?...that is where the House comes in. I had the chance to meet a mom from California who came to visit for a quick girls getaway when she was 30 weeks pregnant. She was here for one last hoorah before her (first) baby was born. The morning she woke up to go home with her friends, she figured out she was in labor. She delivered at a local SLC hospital and stayed at the house until her daughter was strong enough to go home. Can you imagine? And I can tell you first hand that NICU bills add up fast. My son was born six weeks premature, and is my $100,000 boy, and when you consider he had no big complications, that is a ton of cash. Not something I had laying around. I was lucky to live here, but the House serves families every night that live more than 35 miles away from here. So the bottom line, need a charity to support? What to do something great? check out the website...... http://www.rmhcslc.org/ and see what you can do to help. If you don't want to write a check, there are some great ways to help out and be involved. And by all meanss, find the local Ronald Mcdonald House in you r area if you aren't here local to me!
So Saturday is the Gala for 2009. We have had a difficult year, but have made it thru. Despite some rough economic times, we have 700+ silent auction items, plus some great live auction items too. We are expecting a full house, which is so exciting, and I cannot wait to see how we do....and to see if I can snag myself a little something at the auction too. I have my eye on a few items.......we will have to see. I'll keep you posted!