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I am a brand ambassador for Central Arkansas McDonalds. While I am being compensated for this post all thoughts and opinions are my own.
A few weeks ago, I was invited to attend the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Ronald McDonald House Charities of Arkansas. Working in health care, I know how hard it is for the families of patients who are in the hospital for an extended period of time and am so excited about how the new house will really be able to help these families out!
I learned so much about RMHC and even got to meet Ronald!!
The new Ronald McDonald House in Arkansas will be triple the size of the current house and will clock in at 35000 sq. feet. It will be five stories tall and have 32 rooms for families to stay in, each one with its own bathroom! The new rooms seriously look like hotel suites. Sooooo nice!!
The building will also contain a large kitchen and dining room, stocked with all kinds of yummy food donated by Tyson. Tyson is a huge sponsor of the RMCH in Arkansas! There will also be on-site laundry facilities, a garden, a tree house, and both indoor and outdoor play grounds.
We got these awesome view finders with pics of what the house will look like when finished at the event. I haven’t seen a view finder in years but I think this is the perfect keepsake and I wish I could show you all of the amazing pics on here!!
One of the coolest things I learned about the house is that it will have a “Beacon of Hope” light in the top. At night, it will be lit up and will be able to be seen from the hospital so that the kids inside can look out and find that light and know that their family is there. Is that not just the sweetest thing ever or what?? This is the only pic I could find of it so you can see what I’m talking about…
At the time of the groundbreaking RMHC still needed $1,000,000 but I believe they are much closer to their goal now!!
Here are some pics from the actual groundbreaking/dirt moving…
Ever since the groundbreaking I have been following the Ronald McDonald House Charities Arkansas Facebook page closely to watch the progress being made and to see how I can help! I can’t give a huge donation like big companies can but they do #WednesdayWishList of items needed for the house like trash bags, laundry soap, coffee creamer, etc and I would love to do something like that!!
Do you have a Ronald McDonald House in your area??
What are some ways you give back to your RMHC??
I love everything that the Ronald McDonald house stands for. Have volunteered there once when I was a teenager and to this day (a million years later) it still impacts my life. I am glad to see they are building more places.
That “Beacon of Hope” is the coolest thing ever. <3
I love Ronald McDonald house. The help they give to families who are dealing with such horrible problems is so wonderful.
I love to see the Ronald McDonald house able to expand so they can help even more families. I’ve had a couple of friends who have had to use their services and were so grateful. It is true that every little bit helps when we all pitch in we make big things happen!
The Ronald McDonald House is AMAZING. I have friends who were helped by them when their son was sick in the hospital and the Ronald McDonald House really helped them.
Ronald McDonald Houses worldwide are amazing in what they do! I could not imagine having a very sick child and having the stress of figuring out where the family will be staying and what we would do!
It’s great to see them starting work on the new house! I bet this will help so many families!
Ronald McDonald houses are so amazing for families that need their services! What an amazing experience to be included in the ground breaking celebration!
I always thought that giving back to the community is one of the noblest acts a person can do. Thanks to McDonald’s. They always make sure that everyone can put on a smile despite battling their own personal troubles. Time to dig in and help!
wow.. good for them. They’re giving something back to community. So generous!
That’s commendable. I hope a lot of big businesses will do this kind of project and program to give back to the community.
I love this. I have actually stayed in a Ronald McDonald house before, when we took my nephew to St. Jude’s Hospital. I love that they do this for children!
This is awesome. I know so many who have personally been helped by the Ronald McDonald house so this is great to see! They are awesome.
I had a view finder like that as a kid! I have heard great things about the Ronald McDonald Houses! What a great cause!
How fun is that! And good for you for being able to grace that event. We don’t have a Ronald McDonald House here in the city. I do wonder if there is one in the nearby towns. I will check it out.
I love this! I’ve always loved that McDonalds gives back like this. I know they use to take pop cap tabs, but I haven’t seen that anywhere anymore..They must have stopped doing that.
This is a wonderful campaign. I know that when my daughter had surgery, we booked a hotel because we didn’t know about the Ronald McDonald house. Being over 6 hours from the hospital that did the surgery was a bit risky to me.
Wow at 35000 sq. feet this is going to be a huge place. Ronald McDonald house has helped a few family’s i know. It is an amazing charity.
You met McDonald… :D He stop appearing in our stores this side… :( So sad. It’s good to see brands giving back.
I recently shared a post about the Ronald McDonald House. They do such wonderful things for families!!!
Oh yah! What a wonderful organization to come in to town. The Ronald McDonald house is a wonderful organization which help my family numerous times through the years. When I was in high school we had The Little Lighthouse, which was part of the Ronald charities. I used to volunteer there a few days a month after school. While heartbreaking, it was also very heart warming and loving.
I love the Ronald McDonald house! They’re such an amazing organization!
The Ronald McDonald house has helped some of my friends so this is a great cause to support. Glad you were there to support!
There is actually a Ronald McDonald House in my area. I have always had high respect for McDonald’s for this!
What a wonderful story to read about. That beacon of light nearly made me cry. It’s very sweet to know it’s there for the children.
Kudos to Ronald McDonald house for starting another house. The house has helped so many families and I admire them for their hard work.
I think we had one in the town we just moved from. It really helped families that had kiddos going to the hospital across the street.
Ronald McDonald house is a really great charity. They helped my daughter so much where her daughter was born with a birth abnormality and had to be at Children’s Hospital for about a month after her birth. They provided her with a place to stay and more. I am glad to see that they are helping your community too.
Ronald mc Donald house is great! We don’t have one locally, but they have one in buffalo and I just love all that they do for families :)
Very cool to hear that Tyson is a large contributor to the RMDH in Arkansas. I think that it’s really nice to have a garden and treehouse in place for this one. We have a RMDH in my area – it was rebuilt and expanded a couple of years ago. It looks really nice.
It is always so inspiring to see big houses, brands etc helping out “ordinary” people. Volunteering and giving back to community is a way to go!
How cool it must have been to be part of something so special. This organization is amazing at helping sick children and their families. I’ve volunteered with them and am quite impressed with their dedication to charity and raising awareness.