A visit to the Ronald McDonald House Boston/Brookline

My daughter and I took a ride to the Ronald McDonald house yesterday to deliver all the goodies that have been collected over the past month. Boxes upon BOXES of toothpaste, toothbrushes, canned goods, games for kids, brand new puzzles, really too many items to list... AND


OVER 250 HANDMADE CARDS WITH ENVELOPES!!

The cards were all my leftovers, that customers, friends and demonstrators from my area got together to make. A LOT of love went into the baskets of cards.

I did have a bit of help also from a demonstrator from South Carolina who sent me a bunch of her leftover swaps, which were made into cards by one of the girls on my AWESOME team, Elise.

I JUST HAD to take a photo of the front sign. The house in Brookline is a GIANT Victorian old house. They just don't make houses like this anymore. It has a very grand feeling about the place with lots of hand crafted wood trim, it really feels warm and inviting.

The front porch has seating for about 10-15 people and I can just imagine that when the house is full, there is quite a warmth and buzz about the house.

While I was there, GUESS who I met?? A 73 year old, Stampin' Up! demonstrator!! She said that she and some of her family lived at the house in Brookline for over a year while "the gift of her life and family" received necessary medical treatments in Boston. She has been a demonstrator for over 10 years, and it warmed my heart to see her and her family excitedly looking through the big basket of cards. I have a LOT more photos of the donations if you are interested, send me an email. Here are some of my favorites.

You know what? It could be any one of us who need the services of a place like this. I met another gentleman who was staying there. His son was in the hospital and said if it wasn't for the house, he would have no college fund with all the medical treatments. He was looking to get his truck driver license and be ready for when his son comes home.

One of the sweet volunteers watched my daughter while I helped bring all the goodies in the house. She asked my daughter to "fix up" this doll house that she said was messy.. Alexis took that challenge and did a wonderful job. I all but had to pull her out of there, coaxing her "out to lunch at friendly's" finally worked.

The photo shows the cute doll house, but this is the main gathering area. There is a group of demonstrators that will go in and do a dinner once in a while for the residents, and Andy, the house lead said that SU! demonstrators have the most energy he has ever seen. (Maybe that's because some of us don't actually sleep all that much).

This is a photo of Andy and I in the kitchen at the house. He and one of the volunteers were sorting the goodies and putting it away on the shelf.

They were overwhelmed with the generosity of my wonderful customers and friends.

I also gave Andy a check for $50. I hope that when I do this next year, I'll have more to give them. I sold 3 bundles, and one of the girls on my team Alicia sold two. I put a bit extra in to round the dollar value up. Like I said, I hope to raise a bit more for the house next year money wise. However, the donations of things that they need was just wonderful and overwhelming.

The final picture is the warm living room, where I'm sure people unwind and put their feet up after a long day of visiting family at the hospital OR have a little family time. From what I understand, it's not just families who have Children in the hospital. Some of the children stay there too while they undergo all kinds of treatments, like radiation. Also, this house services people from all over the country who seek out the Boston hospitals. They really do amazing work and I was so happy to be able to help them out at all.