Winter 2012

To every supporter who makes our “home away from home” possible: On September 6, 2011, our son Jonathan Boone Monroe was born at Good Samaritan Hospital, and once stabilized, he was transferred to Cincinnati Children’s and diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis. He underwent surgery on the second day of his life and came through very well. We had learned in June that there was a strong possibility he had

CF, and we began to prepare for a lengthy hospital stay.

During the first two months of Jonathan’s life, we took turns sleeping in his hospital room while commuting

back and forth to our home in Georgetown, Kentucky to care for our other children, Samuel, 6, Katherine, 5,

and Andrew, 2. We struggled to care for both Jonathan and our other children, and the constant commute from the

hospital to home began to take its toll on all of us. We needed to see Jonathan and our two-year-old son on the same day. And then we moved into Cincinnati’s Ronald McDonald House.

The House is so important to our family right now. Because of the generosity of others, our challenging situation is much more manageable. As a parent, you want to know all your children are taken care of and that their needs are being met. The House allows our family to stay together instead of being spread out over two states, attempting to work out the logistics of childcare and jobs as we navigate through this season of life.

Volunteers serve delicious meals every day which makes life so much easier. Because the House is right next to the hospital, our family can walk across the street any time to see Jonathan. The activities, tickets to local attractions, playrooms, craft room, library and game room offer our children exciting things to enjoy and are a nice break from the stress of the hospital.

Most importantly, the House allows us to share our struggles, victories and defeats with other guests whose loved ones are undergoing similar medical challenges. The camaraderie, understanding and bond shared between

guests are foreign to most of our family and friends back home who just don’t understand. But here, we have found a “home away from home.” Some of

the friends we have made will be in our lives for many years to come.

Jonathan just completed his second surgery and continues to improve. Every dollar you donate, meal you cook, or tab you pull goes to support families like us. It means so much, to so many.

Benjamin and Emily Monroe, House Guest Family

www.rmhcincinnati.org | (513) 636-7642

most top 10 lists of New year’s resolutions include helping others in 2012. you can help critically ill children and their families this year by making our house a part of your New year’s resolutions. It could be the resolution that makes all the difference in a child’s life – and in your own.

“To see how resilient the kids are, how happy and vibrant they are despite their situation, and to watch their families be so strong is truly amazing and completely awe-inspiring.”– Stephanie Cope, House Volunteer

$10,000 +Dillard’sPep Piano Play a Thon - OH Music Teachers

Association - Southwest DistrictThanksgiving Day Race

$5,000 - $9,999Cincinnati Wine FestivalMiami Trails Masters - Loveland, OhioTurpin Hills/Mason Middle School “Pay it

Forward”Valenti Salon and Spa and their Generous

Customers

“The House has done more for me than I could ever do for it.”– Jake Penwell House Volunteer

VolunteerMeal Volunteers provide breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner or snacks so our families can focus 100 percent on their child – instead of worrying about the expense and time involved with preparing meals.

Activities Volunteers provide a much-needed lift to our guest families. Quality entertainment helps alleviate stress, provides an opportunity for families to spend time together instead of constantly focusing on health issues, and stimulates positive, hopeful feelings. It is also extremely important for children who cannot leave our house because of compromised immune systems. Contact Lisa Davis at ldavis@rmhouse.org or 636-2760.

thAnk You to everyone who volunteered in 2011!home-cooked meals prepared . . . . . . . . 738Snack groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 495activities provided . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 589

Does your pull tab contribution really make a Difference?yes, in record amounts! In 2011, you helped us earn $19,004 from collecting pull tabs, setting a new house record. make collecting pull tabs one of your New year’s resolutions and know that one small gesture on your part can make a big difference in the lives of critically ill children and their families.

Collecting pull tabs is a great way for you to give back – it helps guest families and the earth! Collect your tabs and bring them to our Big tab Drop on earth Day, april 22, 2012. more details to come!

or, now you can collect whole cans, bring them to a participating recycling center, and our house will receive a check! Please visit our website for more information atwww.rmhcincinnati.org/donate-pull-tabs.aspx

What are your new Year’s resolutions?

$1,000 - $4,999Abate of Ohio - Destination Cycle SafeAlpha Delta Pi - Eta Epsilon ChapterFidelity Employees in Memory of Mallori

Christine AyersGastro Consultants of Greater CincinnatiDawn Elise Hilton Hollywood CasinoLive Nation - Trans Siberian OrchestraMacy’s Bag Hunger CampaignMarge Gallagher Fall ClassicMitchell’s Salon and Day SpaStudents of Mt. Notre Dame High School

thank You to everyone who made our 2011 outsiDe funDrAisers A success!

Nancy’s Gifts, Cards and Collectibles and Their Generous Customers

Mike, Gloria & Paige Noday and Liars Club of New Richmond

Lindsay PaulyRough Brothers EmployeesSouthwestern OH/Northern KY Square

Dancers Federation Springdale Elementary SchoolGary and Theresa Studer Family Anita Threet and Kevin Cappel Family and

FriendsU.C. College of MedicineUBS - Financial Services, Inc. - Kenwood

collect Pull tABsStart collecting tabs or expand your collection efforts to your office, church or neighborhood. Contact Lisa Davis at ldavis@rmhouse.org or 636-2760.

help fulfill the house Wish listyou can help keep our house stocked with the basic necessities a home requires. when you’re picking up what you need for your home, grab a few things for our house too, such as disinfectant wipes and sprays, 13-, 30- or 39-gallon trash bags, or ziplock bags. Start a wish list drive at school, church or at the office. View our complete wish list online at www.rmhcincinnati.org/donate-wish-list.aspx.

organize an outsiDe funDrAiserThe whole family can get involved. Little ones can have a lemonade stand. Teens can have a car wash. adults can have a ‘change war’ at the office, and departments can compete against one another. Contact Shawnie Dukes at sdukes@rmhouse.org or 636-2046 for more ideas or for more information.

help a Guest fAMilY Directlyyou can help the family of a critically ill child by alleviating some of their financial stress every month of the year. although it costs $90/night, per family, we only ask guest families to donate $25/night, if they are able to do so. of course, no family is ever turned away due to an inability to contribute. with just a small, one-time effort, you can set up an automatic monthly withdrawal of only $25/month to cover a family’s cost for one night. your gift will help a family stay next door to the hospital so their child can receive the care he or she needs. Go online or call our house to set it up. Contact Shawnie Dukes at sdukes@rmhouse.org or 636-2046.

five Ways to Accomplish Your neW YeAr’s resolution to helP others

share a nightliGhtinG cereMonYSanta joined our 78 guest families and hundreds of house volunteers and supporters at our annual holiday celebration, Share a Night. Generously sponsored by macy’s, the evening celebrates the many ways that people give to our house all year long. The event, filled with food, music and festivities, also marked the lighting of hundreds of holiday lights which had been hung with care by our many volunteers. every light represented a donation made to our house in 2011.

Dear Santa,

Please come to Ronald McDonald House. My sister and I would like you to bring our gifts here because we have been good all year! I like princess toys, and my sister likes Dora!

Love, Jada and Brailyn

thank you for helping to make the holidays aMAGicAl tiMe At our house! many families were unable to travel any significant distance away from the hospital while their critically ill child was receiving treatment. Because of your support, we were able to bring holiday cheer, togetherness and great food and gifts to our 78 guest families so they could enjoy a magical holiday season.

ronald’s WorkshoPmany of the critically ill children living at our house were afraid Santa wouldn’t know where to find them. Because of you, Santa didn’t forget about them and delivered their gifts to their “home away from home.”

as you can imagine, when faced with mounting medical bills and worrying about the health of their child, Christmas gifts often become a luxury that parents simply cannot worry about or cannot afford. But you made the holidays magical for every girl and boy living at our house by donating gifts for newborns, toddlers and teens. Parents secretly shopped from the donated presents, our volunteers wrapped the gifts, and Santa delivered them on Christmas eve. In addition, you helped us provide many other gifts to our house children and even a little something for mom and dad.

have you been to the north Pole? families from around the world spent Christmas at our house. To help bring smiles to these critically ill children and their families, we partnered with Delta airlines and the CVG International airport to take them on a magical adventure to the North Pole. on a special Saturday in December, children and their families taxied around the runway and finally arrived at another gate, the North Pole. They were just in time to watch Santa and mrs. Claus pull up to the North Pole on a fire truck! as the west Clermont Choir sang carols, children played with ronald mcDonald, the Cincinnati Zoo’s cheetah mascot, and reds mascots mr. red, rosie red, and Gapper. In addition, there were balloon animals, snacks, arts and crafts, rescue dogs, and Delta staff members dressed up as elves and reindeer, full of holiday cheer. finally, Santa handed out lots of toys and then, with the wave of his wand, magically transported everyone back to Cincinnati.

Dear Santa,

I am in the hospital now. I want to go home for Christmas to be with my family. I’ve been the best boy that I can be.

Love, Dakota

Volunteers ADoPt A rooM for the second consecutive year, our over 400 guest services volunteers contributed more than $10,000 to adopt a transplant suite in 2012. Don freed, our beloved volunteer, led the campaign knowing that it would provide a family not only with a room, but also with a good night’s sleep, home-cooked meals, and ongoing support from caring volunteers, staff and other families with critically ill children. If you would like to help ensure that families are not sleeping in the hospital lobby, in their child’s hospital room, or even in their cars, you can adopt a small room for a year for $3,000, a medium room for $5,000 or a transplant suite for $10,000. Contact Development Director Jill miller at jmiller@rmhouse.org or 636-9679 for more information.

Wish tree Program

you may have noticed Christmas trees around town where you could select a name card off of the tree and help fulfill a child’s holiday dreams. our house volunteer Barb frisby made sure our children didn’t miss out on this opportunity, as she has been doing for 16 years. Barb and her fellow volunteers made tree ornaments with notes about gift suggestions, distributed them around town, and collected the gifts and brought them to our house. many local nonprofits participate in the wish Tree Program, started by Bob wetterer in 1985. our house is lucky to be a part of such a wonderful holiday tradition; it definitely helped make Christmas so much brighter for so many critically ill children.

Dear Santa, We are twin sisters, Rebeka and Paula. We are six years old. Our biggest wish is to be healthy. We were good this year, so maybe you can also bring us school backpacks. And maybe you can put some books inside too.We love you, Santa.Rebeka and Paula Dragic

on November 11, 2011, I welcomed my third child into this world, hugh henry Goodin. The house has become such an important part of me that I could not help but name my first son after a former ronald mcDonald house guest, henry Beckett mercier. henry touched my heart long ago, and I remember his birth as if it were yesterday.

henry was born in our house in 2004 with the help of our staff and the local fire station. he came six weeks early and his mother, Liz, was already living with us because henry had been diagnosed with hypoplastic Left heart Syndrome. The merciers lived at our house for over a year, celebrating another son’s fifth birthday, their 10th wedding anniversary and Liz’s 40th birthday. It was truly their “home away from home,” where they celebrated, laughed and cried, where they ate their meals, and where they found hope and comfort. In Liz’s own words, “without the support I received from rmhC, I could not have endured the separation from my family, the anguish over henry’s struggle and the extreme stress of constant medical decisions.”

henry passed away during surgery when he was 13 months old, but Bill and Liz mercier are thankful to have known henry, even if for just a short time. Liz said, “I will forever be grateful to the house for allowing me to be with my beautiful son for the precious little time we had together.”

henry’s gentle spirit lives on in our house and with hugh henry. I hope the new year brings you all the love, support and hope that I wish for hugh henry and that the merciers found at our house. Thank you for caring for our families, today and always.

wishing you a wonderful 2012,

Jennifer Goodinexecutive Director

Be proud of your house, cincinnAti

Don freedVolunteer of the YeAr

etta hoehMaking a Difference outstanding corporate Volunteers

thank You from oureXecutiVe Director

help ensure our future and leave alAstinG leGAcYconsider a new Year’s resolution to create or update your will or estate plans.

Brenda and Bria merron have called our house “home” for nearly 10 years. Brenda will tell you, “we’ve utilized the house throughout Bria’s life. Thankfully, they were always there.” you can help ensure that our house is always there for Bria and other families by including rmhC of Greater Cincinnati in your will or estate plans.

Big changes may be taking place next year that could negatively affect what you can leave to the people and causes that are important to you. It is likely that more of the money you wish to pass on will be taxed and that it will be taxed at a higher rate. Careful planning can help you preserve what you have worked so hard to create and ensure that it will make a lasting difference in the lives of others close to your heart.

This year, give yourself the gift of knowing that you are protecting your family, friends and the causes you care about most – instead of leaving more than necessary to the IrS. resolve to make a will if you have not already done so. and if you have documents in place, be sure you review and update them with your advisors in 2012.

for more information, please contact Tracy monroe, Director of Planned Giving, at (513) 636-9703 ortmonroe@rmhouse.org.

The Greater Cincinnati Chapter of the association of fundraising Professionals named our long-time volunteer Don freed as the winner of the 2011 “Volunteer of the year award.” Don has a special gift for bringing hope and happiness to the darkest moments of people’s lives and we are thankful he has chosen to share his talents with our guest families for the past 16 years.

house volunteer etta hoeh recently received a 2011 Difference maker award from the Cincinnati museum Center. etta slept on the floor of her son Jeffrey’s room at Cincinnati Children’s for months while he was treated for cancer. when he died at age 27 in 1989, she began working to help critically ill children and their families. our house and our community have been forever changed by the difference she has made in so many lives.

The Cincinnati association of Volunteer administrators and our house recently recognized fifth Third Bank as the 2011 outstanding Corporate Volunteer Program. In addition to providing financial support, more than 2,400 employees have volunteered to serve on committees, clean and perform maintenance at our house, and prepare more than 160 meals for our guest families.

you provide the majority of the funding, cook the meals, organize activities for the children, and provide the support system so many families desperately need. you should be proud of your award-winning house.

our house earned a guest satisfaction rate of

98 Percent for 2011!

Hugh Henry Goodin

350 erkenbrecher avenueCincinnati, oh 45229

nonProfitu.s.PostAGe

PAiDcincinnati, ohPermit no. 9772

If you receive an extra newsletter, please pass it on to a friend or let us know so we can correct our database. If you know someone who would like to receive our newsletter, please send us their name and address. If your name and address shown on the mailer panel of this newsletter are not correct, please let us know by contacting Shawnie Dukes at 513-636-7642 or sdukes@rmhouse.org. Thank you!

Want to help critically ill children start the year off right? Make our House a part of your

2012 New Year’sresolutions!

cincinnati’sronald McDonaldhouse provides a supportive “home away from home” for families and their children who are receiving medical treatment at cincinnati children’s hospital Medical center or other area hospitals, regardless of their ability to contribute.