2. Runninghead:COMMUNITY/ SOCIAL 2
Community Service/Social Service Investigation
Over the last two month I decide to volunteer some of my time at the Ronald McDonald House.
It was a wonderful experience meeting many types of people and learning things about the
Ronald McDonald House I had no clue about. I have been volunteering at the House since I was
in the 6th grade, but back home in Louisville. The house in Louisville and the house in Lexington
are somewhat different, one is bigger and then the other, and the way its set up is very different
they really don’t do the same thing each house runs it the way they want but it must be ran
successfully.
The main purpose of this agency is to allow families to face the weight of illness together
families are stronger when they are together, which helps in the healing process. By staying at a
Ronald McDonald House, parents also can better communicate with their child’s medical team
and keep up with complicated treatment plans when needed. They can also focus on the health of
3. Runninghead:COMMUNITY/ SOCIAL 3
their child, rather than grocery shopping, cleaning or cooking meals. Also another big purpose it
serves is allowing Children to get the best care when the child is sick, you want the best care
possible, even if it is hundreds or thousands of miles away. The Ronald McDonald House allows
families to access specialized medical treatment by providing a place to stay at little or
sometimes no cost. I think that this is such a wonderful thing because if you think about it people
will see how convent this is and how it’s a wonderful place to be when your child is ill they
make sure everything is ok. The mission of the Ronald McDonald House Charities of the
Bluegrass is to create and support programs that directly improve the health well-being of
children and to strengthen families by keeping them together in times of medical need. The
vision we believe when you change a child’s life, you change a family’s, which can change a
community and, ultimately, the world. As pioneers of providing family-centered care, RMHC
strives to be part of the solution in improving the lives of children and their families, providing
programs that strengthen families during difficult times.
The population that the Ronald McDonald agency serves would be families with children
who are suffering from an illness. The Ronald McDonald house wants families to be with the
child at all times because it always seems to make things better and helps the process overtime.
After learning a little more about the agency and what they were trying to do it made me more
interested, and I just wanted to know more about the Ronald McDonald houses around the world.
Ronald McDonald helps individuals meet needs that they can’t on there on. Such as
facing hard times when having a sick child and you have nowhere to stay and have to travel
many, many miles away that can be very stressful. They also take the families problem as if it
was there problem too, to show them that they do care, that they are not just there working they
4. Runninghead:COMMUNITY/ SOCIAL 4
want to make a difference just as well. The Ronald McDonald house mainly addresses the issues
of parents having medical problems with their children. They are addressing that this is the place
you can come for help, feel loved, and feel at home. They are there to help not make things
worse. They are always there to count on and I learned that from my experience volunteering
with them, they do everything they can to make the family feel welcome and comfort them as
well.
While volunteering at the Ronald McDonald House I took on many responsibilities such
as keeping things clean, working in the kitchen, folding things, cleaning the rooms, making
people feel welcomed, answering phones and many other things too. There was an activity that I
got to participate in which was pet therapy. Pet therapy is when someone brings in a dog which
the dog has to be healthy and friendly. They bring the dog to the house so that the people been
housed can love on the dog. Sometimes families are away from their animals back home and
when they have to travel they have to leave the animals back home while they come and take
care of the child. The dog is brought so people who do have dogs won’t be as sad about their pet.
This was a wonderful volunteer opportunity I enjoyed every bit of it and have decided to
go back because I loved it so much. The Ronald McDonald house is a wonderful place and I
have been a part of volunteering with them since the 6th grade. If I had to describe this
origination in one word it would be “Amazing” they get the job done and they are always there
when you need them.
The social service investigation part I want to focus on is kids with cancer. This area
really interest me because growing up I had a friend with cancer who is no longer here and I also
have a friend today with cancer still battling it. There are all types of services at the national
5. Runninghead:COMMUNITY/ SOCIAL 5
level it would be American Cancer society, at a state level it would be life with cancer which
many states have and at a local level it would be children’s cancer hospital. After researching
and finding out about places that work with children having cancer made me realize that the
Ronald McDonald house had a lot to do with it after I thought more about it.
The Ronald McDonald house agency had a lot to do with families who had ill children
and giving them a place to stay while there child is been hospitalized for been ill. What I’m
focusing on is kids with cancer the way that my volunteer ties in with this is by the child been
sick they house the family at the Ronald McDonald house when they have no place to stay
because some people have to travel miles away to be with the child in the hospital. This serves
the population of families in need of help when they have no place to go and no money, because
I know if the child is in the hospital then you’re paying bills and things like that for the child by
them been hospitalized so where the Ronald McDonald house comes in is housing the families
for little pay or sometimes no pay at all. All around Lexington there are many places that deal
with kids an cancer which makes me happy because researching and looking at research from
years ago there were not as many places today that helps kids with cancer. The cost of the
research is expensive but if people keep donating then we can kill cancer from kids which is
what we want. Many people always ask “how do kids even get cancer”? Well the answer to that
question is, cancer can run through the family or it couldn’t, you can get second hand smoke
someone smoking in the house and the kid gets it. Cancer is something anyone can get at any
time in life, it hurts my heart to see little babies and kids suffering from such a horrible disease
that is not guaranteed to go away. With this I feel like you can only have hope and be positive
about the situation because as a parent you have to stay strong for the child to let them know
everything will be okay even if it won’t be. Seeing the child smile will make things easy to see
6. Runninghead:COMMUNITY/ SOCIAL 6
that they are hanging in there and holding on. It’s a hard pill to swallow but like I said you can
only have hope and pray that things get better. I had a friend when I was younger who found out
she had cancer in the 3rd grade and three years later she passed away. Seeing her parents made
me sad because they knew she couldn’t find any longer, this is why I chose this topic of research
because I lost a very important friend and even though I was young I still understood.
What I learnedwhilevolunteeringatthe RonaldMcDonald house istoalwaysbe a lovingand
caring personbecause youneverknowanyone situationorwhattheymaybe goingthrough.Alsothis
agencygave me a lotof experience withwordswithpeople of many differentkindwhichisalwaysgood
for whenI'mreadyto get a job.Correspondingmyvolunteerhourswiththe social service investigation
part of the paperit showedme thatthere ischange you justhave to have highspiritsinthe believe.
Dealingwith situationssuchaskidswithcancer can be reallyhardin the toughbattle to fightbecause
I'm prettysure I'm not the onlyone whowishescancerwasneverevenathing.The work I didat them
on the McDonald house inthe researchI didon kidswithcancergoeshand-in-handbecause Iasa social
workerwantto work withkidswithcancerand alsobecause that'sjustsomethingthathasalways
interested.NowIhave a lotof that gotinformationonthe longdumbhouse andhave a house families
withchildren, soif a childwasbeinghospitalizedinLexingtonKentuckyState dollhouse afew blocks
away sotheycouldbe anypointintime whenneeded.Thisreallymakesme happyknowingwhatIwant
to do withmyfeature isoutthere and waitingforme and itwill onlytake time because I’mworkingwith
familiesandkidswithcancerhelpingthemfindwaystocare the childto make thembetter. Ican’t wait
to helpfamiliesfeel betterabouttheirkidswhentheyare goingthroughveryhardtimessuchas facing
that there childhascancer or isjust reallysick. Thiswasa wonderful experience andIwouldlove todoit
all overagain,learningandlistingtoeveryone’sexperience aboutvolunteeringmade me feel like a
wonderful personinside itisone of the bestplaces everandif your everlookingforsome place to
volunteerandwantingtofeel like you’re athome the RonaldMcDonaldhouse isthe place tobe.
