Dear RMHC Supporter,

I am often reminded that, with your support, Ronald McDonald House changes the trajectory of lives every day. This time last year, I received an email from a mom, Tami, who’s college-aged son had recently been diagnosed with a severe AVM, an abnormal tangle of blood vessels connecting arteries and veins in the brain.

She described in detail her panic and worry as she listened to her son, Trevor, have a seizure over the phone as he sat in his car in a parking garage on campus hundreds of miles away. As a mom of two sons Trevor’s age, every word of her story hit me like a ton of bricks.

She shared the stress of having to select a surgeon who had the exact expertise to remove her son’s AVM successfully, knowing that it could rupture at any time and the result would not be promising.

At the end of the email, she shared she had spent days searching with no luck for a hotel for her family to stay during Trevor’s surgery. It was the week of the WM Phoenix Open and rooms were impossible to find. Then she remembered Ronald McDonald House. Her family checked all the boxes required to stay at the House, except Trevor had just turned 22.

Not knowing what else to do, she asked if Ronald McDonald House would make an exception for her son. I sent a reply immediately that we would absolutely make an exception and that her family was welcome to stay at the House for as long as they needed.

Trevor’s family stayed at the House for 12 nights. During each of those nights, they found comfort, courage, and most of all, togetherness.

“It was just what we needed. We could focus on Trevor and just being as positive and as strong for him as we possibly could,” dad Tony shared. “I don’t think we would have succeeded with every aspect of our trip to Phoenix and the surgery, and the recovery, had we been anywhere else.”

I’m happy to tell you that Trevor’s surgery was a complete success. He is fully recovered and back to being a college student.

“We are indebted to Ronald McDonald House,” Tony reiterated. “It was one of the biggest blessings we could have asked for through all of this. It was the answer to prayers in some pretty low times. Words can’t express how grateful our whole family is to the organization.”

This is just one of the many families that you touch when you make a tax-deductible donation to Ronald McDonald House. While you’re making your giving plans, I hope you’ll consider the many lives impacted by your donations.

This is just one of the many families that you touch when you make a tax-deductible donation to Ronald McDonald House. While you’re making your giving plans, I hope you’ll consider the many lives impacted by your donations.

With gratitude,

Kerry Schulman
Chief Executive Officer