BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) - The Ronald McDonald House in downtown Burlington had to shut down when the rest of Vermont shut down in March, but since early July, they have been able to find a way to continue their mission.
The non-profit houses families of sick kids needing care at the University of Vermont Medical Center.
It is currently operating with limited occupancy, strict guidelines for admittance, increased sanitizing and cleaning, and a comprehensive check in and check out process, but its doors are open.
The development director for the Ronald McDonald House Charities says the entire operation and culture of what they know has changed.
“The Ronald McDonald House Charities at its core we are a home away from home. And just because there was a pandemic, doesn’t mean kids weren’t getting sick and hurt and that babies weren’t going into pre-term delivery, so we still needed to be there. It was really a priority to assess how we can still support the community, how we can meet the needs of our families and do it in a really safe way,” said Sadie Jones, the development director.
They also operate a volunteer run apartment style unit in the hospital for a family to use, and a care mobile, which is a mobile dental van. Both of which currently can’t operate.
But the pandemic has slowed donations. The Ronald McDonald House says they are expecting to end the year with an estimated 80% decrease in funding revenue.
Typically, they rely on in-person fundraisers like weekly bingo at the fair grounds, third party golf tournaments that happen all summer and the largest, the Jingle Bell Express, that happens the week after Thanksgiving.
However, all of those had to be canceled because of the pandemic.
The Ronald McDonald House Charities also gets donations in coin at the point of sale at McDonald’s restaurants through donation boxes.
Because most transactions are on credit cards or debit cards, they have initiated a round-up campaign.
“We are all familiar with this, just rounding up your purchase. And that has been a really good way for the community to give money here and there and has been quite frankly a really wonderful consistent source of revenue that we can rely on,” said Jones.
Their virtual holiday fundraised raised $25,000, but that’s just a small percentage of what they typically make through their annual Jingle Bell Express.
Officials say they haven’t given up on their fundraising initiatives for next year.
They are already looking ahead to what could be for the summer of 2021 and golf is something they have keyed in on based on its popularity this past summer.
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December 29, 2020 at 08:56PM
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Ronald McDonald House still open for families - WCAX
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