Ronald McDonald House Charities of Augusta: Help support the local mission
By Erin Colley | Staff writer
The Ronald McDonald House (RMH) of Augusta is conveniently located on Augusta University’s Health Science campus. The house is located just a short walk away from the Children’s Hospital of Georgia. They provide a comforting place to stay and delicious meals so families can focus on their children.
There are many ways the community can get involved with our local RMH. Routine ways to help are donations, volunteering in house, collecting pop tabs for recycling, purchasing items on their wish list or sponsoring an event.
“Whether you are an individual looking to give back or a group hoping to participate in a teambuilding project, we have something that fits the needs of most volunteers. Some options include providing a delicious meal for guests, holding a wish list drive to keep the house operating, hosting a holiday activity, volunteering at a special event or cleaning and organizing the facility,” explained Karleigh King, Community Relations Coordinator, RMHC Augusta.
Alpha Delta Pi members helping with daily tasks at our local RMH. (photo by Augusta University’s Alpha Delta Pi)
RMHC Augusta is currently partnering with LolaBird to fundraise for our local house. LolaBird creates comforters, bedsheets and pillowcases where every purchase made has a portion donated to the Augusta Ronald McDonald House. These items could be the perfect Christmas gift, dorm room upgrade or early preparation for spring break rentals. (https://www.lolabird.com/fundraiser/ronald-mcdonald-house-augusta)
“As a nonprofit organization, we rely on the generosity of others to keep our mission moving forward, which is keeping families close while their children receive lifesaving medical care at our local hospitals. These families are going through some of the most challenging times of their lives. Having a community come together to provide for their basic needs allows them to focus solely on the recovery of their child. This means more kisses, more hugs and more snuggles when it matters most,” King said.
Our local house also hosts annual events. Share-A-Night, on Dec. 5, is a holiday open house where the community can come learn about the mission that is happening locally. The event will have facility tours, pictures with Santa, games food and more. There will also be opportunities to raise money to cover the cost of one night for families.
They will also be hosting their annual Christmas parade on Saturday, Dec. 9 in Downtown Augusta. Non-profits and businesses can enter floats for the parade by Monday, Dec. 4.
Other annual events include their Red Shoe Golf Classic, Wine Women and Shoes and more.
Augusta University’s Alpha Delta Pi sorority works hand in hand with Augusta’s local house to raise money through philanthropy events, in house volunteering and bringing princesses to meet families.
“ADPi has been a huge supporter of RMHC Augusta for years as their national philanthropic organization. They have continuously showed up when we needed help with meals, drives and getting creative with raising funds for our sick kiddos. A wonderful project they created was the Princesses and Pi’s events, dressing as princesses and working children’s birthday parties and events for a fee. In our experience with the ladies of ADPi, each interaction has been meaningful, purposeful and filled with compassion. We are forever thankful for their dedication to RMHC families,” King said.
Alpha Delta Pi member dresses up as Frozen character, Anna, as part of their sorority’s fundraising event: Parties by Princesses and Pi’s. Book princesses for your next party to contribute towards our local RMH. (photo by Erin Colley)
President of Alpha Delta Pi, Maggie Wright, adds that “partnering with RMH means more than just community service for ADPi. it means building connections, sharing love and giving back to the ones that need help the most. While many of us in ADPi have not personally been a resident at a Ronald McDonald House before, we have a few girls who have and seeing them giving back to a resource that served them is life changing.”
To learn more, become involved and support the local Ronald McDonald House, visit their website at rmhcaugusta.org.
Contact Erin Colley at ecolley@augusta.edu.
