Three expressions come to mind about Jews who set out to do good things in the world — tzedakah (charity), gemilut chasadim (acts of loving kindness) and tikkun olam (repairing the world). Sometimes these acts are done separately and other times they are combined. Several members of the Jewish community find that they can do a little of all three by devoting their time, efforts and funds to the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Kansas City.
Three Jewish men — Dr. Brad Warady, Scott Zigler and Mark Searles — are involved in the capital campaign to build a third Ronald McDonald house in Kansas City. RMHC-KC expects to open a 20-bedroom house in the fall of 2014 to keep its families closer to their sick children.
The Ronald McDonald House provides a “home away from home” for families who don’t live close to the hospital. Searles said because of Ronald McDonald House, people don’t have to worry about their next meals or even if they have a place to sleep other than their child’s hospital room.
“Here they are in a comfortable environment with other people and that helps the child and the family. If they want somebody they can just talk to, that is here for them. It’s really helping to reduce the burden for somebody that may be here for a week or may be here for a month or three months,” Searles continued.
On any given night, RMHC-KC serves 67 families. Annually, it provides lodging to nearly 5,000 families and supports more than 46,000 visits from inpatients and their families at its Family Room space within Children’s Mercy Hospital.
In Zigler’s experience as a volunteer, he has found that the house provides a nice outlet for parents.
“When they are at the hospital they are only talking about medical issues,” said Zigler. With the volunteers, the residents can have conversations “completely unrelated to all their troubles,” which is nice for them.
Dr. Warady points out that the need for these homes continues to rise because medical advancements have made it possible to save children who couldn’t be saved years ago and now have significant medical issues.
“We have the smallest neonates that can be here for months. We have the kids that are getting dual organ transplants. … A lot of times they are in the hospital for days, weeks and months,” Dr. Warady said.
“It’s hard for the families to survive, the emotional strain is so great. So being here and having that outlet and some degree of normalcy makes a difference for the families. And if the families are emotionally strong that helps the kids get through the illness that they are dealing with,” said Dr. Warady, a nephrologist who is a member of Congregation Beth Torah.
Dr. Warady said the need for Ronald McDonald House continues to increase.
“The patient numbers and family numbers are increasing on a record basis at Children’s Mercy, so the Ronald McDonald House is required to try to keep up with the need and that requires more money to expand the facility,” said the doctor about the campaign, which has raised $3.6 million of the total $4.5 million needed for the new house.
Holly Buckendahl, CEO of RMHC-KC, notes that the new house will be located near 25th and Cherry streets within the same neighborhood as the two current Ronald McDonald Houses, which combined served more than 2,100 families in 2012. In the 32 years the charity has been in Kansas City, it has provided assistance to more than 225,000 families of sick children.
“Because of the growth and expansion of area hospitals, we’ve been at capacity at both houses with several pages of names on the waiting list. We get 93 percent of our referrals from Children’s Mercy and when they grow, we need to grow too, ” Buckendahl said.
Searles started volunteering for RMHC-KC years ago as a way to continue the good deeds of his late father, Milton Searles. The organization is so important to the Searles family that all three of his children — none of whom currently live in the Kansas City area — volunteer for Ronald McDonald houses across the country. The Tomorrow’s Hope Legacy Society planned giving wall located in the house at 2502 Cherry is dedicated in memory of Milton Searles.
“One of the reasons I’m involved with the Ronald McDonald House is the appreciation people have here for what you do for them. It’s never taken for granted,” said Searles, who serves on the organization’s board of directors, works on various fundraisers and has cooked and served meals to families staying at Ronald McDonald House. He is a member of Congregation Beth Shalom.
Milton Searles’ association with the RMHC-KC began simply by purchasing items on the wish list. He eventually took it upon himself to purchase the laundry detergent for the house, a tradition the Searles’ family continues today.
Zigler said because he is so fortunate to have two healthy daughters, he thought volunteering at Ronald McDonald House would be a good place to volunteer. A member of the board of the Red Shoe Society and someone who recruits corporate sponsors for the house, he thinks it’s a great place to show his children “how lucky we are.”
“We prepared dinner with some friends last month. My 5-year-old daughter and I work at the general store, which is a room where families can come and pick up an item — a toy, a game, some clothes — while they are staying here. My youngest daughter (18 months old) comes to events also,” said Zigler, who is a member of Beth Shalom.
Dr. Warady’s association with RMHC-KC began more than 25 years ago when he saw the need for the families to be taken care of. Over the years he has served in a variety of volunteer capacities including board president twice.
When Dr. Warady first became involved, he stayed overnight “taking care of families and talking to them as people, not as doctors.” Fifteen years ago he helped establish the hospital’s family room, sponsored by RMHC-KC, which provides a place for families to go when their kids are acutely ill in the hospital.
“We were the very first family room in the world at KU Med Center and the second one in the world was at Children’s Mercy and now there are about 150 worldwide,” explained Dr. Warady, who also noted Ronald McDonald House no longer has a presence at KU Med.
Through RMHC-KC, Dr. Warady also runs Camp Chimer, a summer camp for children on dialysis or who have had kidney transplants.
“We just started the relationship with Ronald McDonald House, which is very important to the stability and ongoing presence of the camp,” said Dr. Warady, whose daughter, Melanie Warady, serves as the development manager at RMHC-KC.
All three men hope members of the community will contribute to the fundraising campaign. In addition they point out that groups associated with various congregations and organizations also volunteer at Ronald McDonald Houses — including a group from The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah who will staff both houses during the Christmas holiday for the 26th time this year. They hope other groups or even a group of friends, will choose to volunteer at the houses.
“As Scott pointed out, volunteering at Ronald McDonald House is a great place for kids to see how lucky they are to be healthy and also in a good (financial) position where they don’t have to worry like some other kids do,” Searles said.
To learn more about volunteering or donating to the capital campaign, call 816-842-8321or visit www.rmhckc.org.