December 4, 2024 • 14 mins
For 50 years, Ronald McDonald Houses have spread from the city of Philadelphia to around the world. Cincinnati's 177-room home away from home provides a warm, supportive environment where families stay for free while their child is treated at Cincinnati Children's Hospital. Completely funded by donations, Chief Executive Director Jennifer Loeb is here to discuss the growth she's overseen, what the house does for families, and how to help.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
I'm Sandy Collins. This is iHeart Cinci, a tri state
public affairs show in Cincinnati. You know, the parents of
children who are hospitalized at Cincinnati Children's lean on the
Ronald McDonald House Charities in so many ways, from the
inhospital family room for a break and some sustenance, to
the house across the street one hundred and seventy seven
room hotel where families stay free of charge, and that's
(00:26):
only made possible through donations and volunteers. Today, my guest
is Jennifer Loebe, the chief executive officer of Ronald McDonald
House Charities of Greater Cincinnati for the last twenty five years.
We're talking today about the upcoming holidays, the families who
will spend time away from home, and the important resources
for parents who just want to take care of their child. Jennifer,
(00:47):
thank you for being here on iHeart Cincy. Tell me
about how you came to the Ronald McDonald House Charities
of Greater Cincinnati. Hi, Sandy, thanks.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
For having made today. I am woman because I have
the best job in the whole world, and I found
it twenty six years ago. I first saw the advertisement
for it, and I had been in nonprofit fundraising and
communications before that. But this was my first executive director
job and they hired me when I was twenty eight
(01:18):
and here I am now I'm fifty four and still
love it every single day.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
It's terrific. And that's been quite a growth period from
that age when you first came in to becoming the
largest Ronald McDonald house in the world and now just
barely surpassed from what I understand, yes, but still huge.
Hundred and how many hundreds?
Speaker 2 (01:37):
We have one hundred and seventy seven bedrooms and we're
full every night with a wait list. And yeah, there's
been a lot of growth and it's been a lot
of fun seeing it all happen and being a part
of it.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
A lot of people hear about Ronald McDonald's house. They
know about it because of the pool tabs, and we
know about it, you know, round up when you're going
through the McDonald's itself. But I'm not sure people understand
that these people are coming to the house and you
don't charge them a thing and they can stay as
long as their kids in the hospital. That is correct.
We see on posts online where congratulations to family a
(02:13):
they've been here two hundred and fifty five days and
today they're going home, and you're like, how could you afford?
Who could possibly afford to stay in a hotel for
two hundred and fifty five days while their kids are
no one? You're right, it's amazing that the generosity of
people to fund the Ronald McDonald House. Charities talk to
us about Cincinnati itself and how they step up, how
(02:37):
people just are there to fill the need. Yeah, you're right.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
We live in such a generous community, and I think
a lot of people don't realize just the level of
giving and Cincinnati and what a kind, compassionate city is
and generous, so generous the people and the donors in
the city. But as you mentioned, I mean, families come
to us from all across, sometimes from other countries, and
(03:02):
our average stay is around a month, but some families
are here a year or longer. And if you think
about it, it's really probably the worst time in someone's
life if your child has a really serious illness and
you have to move to a different state to get
the best care for your child. I mean, obviously your
first concern is finding the right doctor in the right hospital,
(03:25):
and so many people find that and since my children.
It's an incredible hospital, but then you think how am
I going to take care of myself and my family?
And you know, how are we going to eat? And
where are we going to sleep? And Ronald McDonald House
is really designed to solve all those problems for them
and to be right across the street from the hospital
and to take care of the whole family and kind
of pour into them and make their lives easier and
(03:47):
less stressful so that they can rest and be their
best selves when they go to the hospital every day
for their kids.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Let's talk about the house itself. I worked in a
smaller one in the Dayton Market. Yours is a huge
hotel size, but you have individual rooms, you have all
the amenities, you have common areas. Let's talk about the
actual experience on a day to day basis of what's
it like to wake up there at the Ronald McDonald house,
your kids across the street and work just a quick
(04:16):
run through of the day.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
Best thing we hear from families is that when they
first get there and they walk in the lobby, they're
just overwhelmed and they breathe a huge sigh of relief
because you can feel the warmth and the care and
compassion as soon as you walk through the doors. So
even though it's a huge building, doesn't feel like a hotel.
It's just a very different atmosphere. But we have one
(04:39):
hundred and seventy seven rooms. They all have their own
private bathroom, and so each family has a comfortable room
with lots of storage and their own private space. But
then we have all kinds of things for the family
and the kids to do within the house. So we
have you know, play areas, we have indoor and outdoor,
(04:59):
we have arts and crafts room, we have of course
laundry and all of those types of things. We have
areas where parents can work. Some parents are on their
laptops and trying to you know, work from the house
too sometimes. So we really have all these areas where
families can join each other or be separate, and it
(05:19):
works really well for them.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
I don't think people really kind of visualize that not
only is the child in the hospital and the parents
are there, but then what do you do with your
three siblings. Oftentimes those kids have to be there as well,
and they can be babies or toddlers up to you know,
junior high or high school, age, and they're now having
to stay at the house and then learn remotely, and
so you have to do some things for them as well,
(05:42):
because otherwise it's the most boring time in their life
and they're scared because of their sibling.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
It's really the child's whole support network and family who
can stay at the house. So oftentimes parents will want
someone at the hospital all the time with their child,
and so they'll rotate back and forth. They'll have another
adult at the house who's maybe watching the other siblings,
or there'll be a grandmother or an aunt or just
anyone who can help, because often if it is a
(06:10):
two parent household, usually one parent has to stay back
home wherever their hometown is and keep a job and
keep the benefits and all of those things going.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
One more thing about the accommodations that I think people
need to hear repeatedly is that you don't have to
be from out of state in order to use the
Ronald McDonald house. You could be in two counties away,
but you can't afford gas every day while your kids
in the hospital for two weeks. That's the kind of
thing where all you need to do is if you
have a need, call the Ronald McDonald House Cincinnati or
(06:38):
Dayton or wherever you're at and say, what can you
do for me because we're in a bind. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Our only requirement is that you live at least forty
miles away from the house, unless your child is in
a critical care unit. So I know someone actually from
Cincinnati whose granddaughter was just born and had complications. This
is just last week and was in the Nicquieu and
they lived with us for about a week. And they
were from Cincinnati, but the child was in critical care.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
Right because being across the street is still too far
when you love them that much and yes they're sick. Well,
let's talk about ways we can help the Ronald McDonald House.
We're talking today with the chief executive officer Ronald McDonald
House Charities a Greater Cincinnati, Jennifer Lobe. Tell me, Jennifer
about the toys and the holidays coming up. What do
you get planned and what do you need?
Speaker 2 (07:24):
The holidays are really a magical time at the House.
I mean it's a hard time because you know, families
are realizing that they're not going to get to go
home for the holidays, and that's something I think we
all look forward to is, you know, gathering around our
own table and with our families. But once they know
they'll be in town for the holidays, we do everything
we can to make it festive and joyful for them.
(07:46):
So the big thing is the toy Drive, and we
set up our boardroom with toys that are organized by
all age groups, and we actually have the parents come
in and choose what toys they know their kids would love,
and then we have a team of all teers who
wrap them and you put them in giant bags and
Santa comes on Christmas Eve to one hundred and seventy
(08:07):
seven rooms or whoever chooses to participate. So that's a
big thing for the holidays. We also have a campaign
going on right now where you can We call it
Send a Snowflake, and it's really just a way for
our community to tell families at the house that they're
thinking of them. So if you go to our website,
which is our image Cincinnati dot org, you'll see it
on there and you can just click and submit your name.
(08:29):
We have a lot of windows in the house, huge windows,
and we cover them with decals with everyone's name, so
like if you wrote in it would say Sandy and
there'd be a snowflake up on the wall just showing
the families that you care about them. That doesn't cost
a thing.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
And links of course if you do want to volunteer,
if you want to figure out how you can help,
and also to donate it this time of year, there's
links there on that site.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
Yes, we have a great meal program called Taste of Hope,
which is a really fun way to get it.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
You do it. I love the way you do it.
Thank you. It's a lot of fun.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
You get to have a cooking life and with friends
or family or coworkers and then serve all of our
families and eat together.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
So that's a lot of fun.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
And then a big ongoing need all year long, not
just the holidays, is individual snacks. We have a little
snack station where families grab things on the way to
the hospital and we go through hundreds and hundreds of snacks.
So that's all on our website. You know, if you
don't want to bring things down and drop them at
the house, you can just order it through our Amazon
wish list. And that's something that's always really appreciated by
(09:26):
our families.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
It's just an amazing thing as well to be able
to just go online and shop and say send us
to the Ronald McDonald House and boom, you just got
so easy x amount of packages coming to you.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
What kind of volunteer opportunities do you have for folks
who might want to come and help out at the house.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
We are fortunate to have so many amazing volunteers from
our community, and currently we have very few individual volunteer
opportunities just because we've had such a huge outpouring of
support that most of our shifts are full. But I
mentioned our meals program, and then there's also you can
come in and make a snack for a family, as
(10:02):
you can do an ice cream social where you just
bring ice cream and all the toppings are like a
popcorn bar. Just something like that. That is a nice
little break for a family. It's just something fun and
that's easy to do with friends.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
The Ronald McDonald House in Dayton, where I worked for
just a short time about a year or so, they're expanding.
They've been expanding for a couple of years and I
just reached out to Rid, a seer from the house
who runs the house there, and they've been under construction
for how many years? Has it been three four something
like least and then got slowed down with the pandemic, etc.
And they won't have nearly as many rooms there. But again,
(10:39):
you know, across the street from the Dayton Children's makes
it so convenient, and to just know that people are
everybody that's in the Ronald McDonald House here in Cincinnati
is someone that sympathizes with you, understands what you're going
through and can help you get the things that you
need so that you can focus on your kid. Is
there anything else that we can do to help the house?
(11:01):
You know, at the end of this year and then
going into next year, do you have any future plans
that are coming up, any big fund raising things.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
We have two big fund raisers. We have a golf
outing which is usually in June, and then at gala
in the fall.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
So those have already passed for this year.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
But you know, there's always a need for donations of
any size and that's really easy to do on our website.
That's really the best way to help the house. And
then I mentioned the wish list as well. If people
would rather send in items, that's another great way to
care for our families.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
Can you give me the address there across the street
from the hospital. What's the actual time.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
It's three forty one erkham Brecker and it's just a
couple blocks from the zoo and right across the street
from Sinsign Children's.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
And you'll take donations and things like that. Absolutely time
you want to do that.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
And what about the pool tabs? Do you keep the
poll tabs? We do do pull tabs. Yes, we recycle
them and they do bring in some revenue to the house.
But the great thing about poll tabs is it gets
every time you pull a tab off your can, you
kind of think at the house and the family's there,
so it just helps keep it top of mind. But
we do recycle them and it is a revenue source.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
Yeah, it actually is. I asked to Rita, I think
it was one time, why don't you why don't you
just get the whole can because there's so much more
aluminum in the can, And she says, because it's more
of a reminder in a way to get the word out,
and we're not trash collectors, so we're just going to
take the tab And I laughed out loud. I thought
that was the best answer in the world. That's the
(12:28):
whole point.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
We also get a better rate for just the tabal
aluminum without writing, and yeah, you get more for just this.
And another great way you mentioned it at the beginning,
but round up at McDonald's restaurants. Whenever you're going through
the drive through, you can just ask them to round
up for the house. And that's a great way to support.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
Us too, because McDonald's corporation is a big sponsor, but
they don't fund the houses. That's correct.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
McDonald's and their customers are about seven percent of our
annual budget, so they're wonderful supporters, but it really takes
the whole community to keep our doors open.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
To do it because you do some great work. Jennifer Low,
thank you, CEO of the Ronald McDonald House Charities of
Greater Cincinnati. You can send a snowflake, do some toys
here this year for the kids, and they've gone one
hundred and seventy seven families every night. They're serving and
certainly have a need for your help. So thank you
for your help, and thank you Jennifer for being here today.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
Thank you, Sandy.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
That's the show for this week and that's what we
approach the holidays. Take some time for yourself, and savor
the moments with your family. Too soon, they'll only be memories.
Thanks to my guest today. If you want to hear
the show again or share it, find Iheartsinsey on the
iHeartRadio app on your phone, on your podcasts, or on
your computer. At iHeart dot com, the links to our
(13:44):
guests and contact information is there as well. If you
have a comment about a show or a suggestion for
an upcoming show, a nonprofit, or a guest, just shoot
me an email iHeart Sinsey with an I at iHeartMedia
dot com. I'm Sandy Collins. Thanks for listening. iHeart Cinci
is a production of iHeartMedia, Cincinnati,
I'm Sandy Collins. This is iHeart Cinci, a tri state
public affairs show in Cincinnati. You know, the parents of
children who are hospitalized at Cincinnati Children's lean on the
Ronald McDonald House Charities in so many ways, from the
inhospital family room for a break and some sustenance, to
the house across the street one hundred and seventy seven
room hotel where families stay free of charge, and that's
(00:26):
only made possible through donations and volunteers. Today, my guest
is Jennifer Loebe, the chief executive officer of Ronald McDonald
House Charities of Greater Cincinnati for the last twenty five years.
We're talking today about the upcoming holidays, the families who
will spend time away from home, and the important resources
for parents who just want to take care of their child. Jennifer,
(00:47):
thank you for being here on iHeart Cincy. Tell me
about how you came to the Ronald McDonald House Charities
of Greater Cincinnati. Hi, Sandy, thanks.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
For having made today. I am woman because I have
the best job in the whole world, and I found
it twenty six years ago. I first saw the advertisement
for it, and I had been in nonprofit fundraising and
communications before that. But this was my first executive director
job and they hired me when I was twenty eight
(01:18):
and here I am now I'm fifty four and still
love it every single day.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
It's terrific. And that's been quite a growth period from
that age when you first came in to becoming the
largest Ronald McDonald house in the world and now just
barely surpassed from what I understand, yes, but still huge.
Hundred and how many hundreds?
Speaker 2 (01:37):
We have one hundred and seventy seven bedrooms and we're
full every night with a wait list. And yeah, there's
been a lot of growth and it's been a lot
of fun seeing it all happen and being a part
of it.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
A lot of people hear about Ronald McDonald's house. They
know about it because of the pool tabs, and we
know about it, you know, round up when you're going
through the McDonald's itself. But I'm not sure people understand
that these people are coming to the house and you
don't charge them a thing and they can stay as
long as their kids in the hospital. That is correct.
We see on posts online where congratulations to family a
(02:13):
they've been here two hundred and fifty five days and
today they're going home, and you're like, how could you afford?
Who could possibly afford to stay in a hotel for
two hundred and fifty five days while their kids are
no one? You're right, it's amazing that the generosity of
people to fund the Ronald McDonald House. Charities talk to
us about Cincinnati itself and how they step up, how
(02:37):
people just are there to fill the need. Yeah, you're right.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
We live in such a generous community, and I think
a lot of people don't realize just the level of
giving and Cincinnati and what a kind, compassionate city is
and generous, so generous the people and the donors in
the city. But as you mentioned, I mean, families come
to us from all across, sometimes from other countries, and
(03:02):
our average stay is around a month, but some families
are here a year or longer. And if you think
about it, it's really probably the worst time in someone's
life if your child has a really serious illness and
you have to move to a different state to get
the best care for your child. I mean, obviously your
first concern is finding the right doctor in the right hospital,
(03:25):
and so many people find that and since my children.
It's an incredible hospital, but then you think how am
I going to take care of myself and my family?
And you know, how are we going to eat? And
where are we going to sleep? And Ronald McDonald House
is really designed to solve all those problems for them
and to be right across the street from the hospital
and to take care of the whole family and kind
of pour into them and make their lives easier and
(03:47):
less stressful so that they can rest and be their
best selves when they go to the hospital every day
for their kids.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Let's talk about the house itself. I worked in a
smaller one in the Dayton Market. Yours is a huge
hotel size, but you have individual rooms, you have all
the amenities, you have common areas. Let's talk about the
actual experience on a day to day basis of what's
it like to wake up there at the Ronald McDonald house,
your kids across the street and work just a quick
(04:16):
run through of the day.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
Best thing we hear from families is that when they
first get there and they walk in the lobby, they're
just overwhelmed and they breathe a huge sigh of relief
because you can feel the warmth and the care and
compassion as soon as you walk through the doors. So
even though it's a huge building, doesn't feel like a hotel.
It's just a very different atmosphere. But we have one
(04:39):
hundred and seventy seven rooms. They all have their own
private bathroom, and so each family has a comfortable room
with lots of storage and their own private space. But
then we have all kinds of things for the family
and the kids to do within the house. So we
have you know, play areas, we have indoor and outdoor,
(04:59):
we have arts and crafts room, we have of course
laundry and all of those types of things. We have
areas where parents can work. Some parents are on their
laptops and trying to you know, work from the house
too sometimes. So we really have all these areas where
families can join each other or be separate, and it
(05:19):
works really well for them.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
I don't think people really kind of visualize that not
only is the child in the hospital and the parents
are there, but then what do you do with your
three siblings. Oftentimes those kids have to be there as well,
and they can be babies or toddlers up to you know,
junior high or high school, age, and they're now having
to stay at the house and then learn remotely, and
so you have to do some things for them as well,
(05:42):
because otherwise it's the most boring time in their life
and they're scared because of their sibling.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
It's really the child's whole support network and family who
can stay at the house. So oftentimes parents will want
someone at the hospital all the time with their child,
and so they'll rotate back and forth. They'll have another
adult at the house who's maybe watching the other siblings,
or there'll be a grandmother or an aunt or just
anyone who can help, because often if it is a
(06:10):
two parent household, usually one parent has to stay back
home wherever their hometown is and keep a job and
keep the benefits and all of those things going.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
One more thing about the accommodations that I think people
need to hear repeatedly is that you don't have to
be from out of state in order to use the
Ronald McDonald house. You could be in two counties away,
but you can't afford gas every day while your kids
in the hospital for two weeks. That's the kind of
thing where all you need to do is if you
have a need, call the Ronald McDonald House Cincinnati or
(06:38):
Dayton or wherever you're at and say, what can you
do for me because we're in a bind. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Our only requirement is that you live at least forty
miles away from the house, unless your child is in
a critical care unit. So I know someone actually from
Cincinnati whose granddaughter was just born and had complications. This
is just last week and was in the Nicquieu and
they lived with us for about a week. And they
were from Cincinnati, but the child was in critical care.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
Right because being across the street is still too far
when you love them that much and yes they're sick. Well,
let's talk about ways we can help the Ronald McDonald House.
We're talking today with the chief executive officer Ronald McDonald
House Charities a Greater Cincinnati, Jennifer Lobe. Tell me, Jennifer
about the toys and the holidays coming up. What do
you get planned and what do you need?
Speaker 2 (07:24):
The holidays are really a magical time at the House.
I mean it's a hard time because you know, families
are realizing that they're not going to get to go
home for the holidays, and that's something I think we
all look forward to is, you know, gathering around our
own table and with our families. But once they know
they'll be in town for the holidays, we do everything
we can to make it festive and joyful for them.
(07:46):
So the big thing is the toy Drive, and we
set up our boardroom with toys that are organized by
all age groups, and we actually have the parents come
in and choose what toys they know their kids would love,
and then we have a team of all teers who
wrap them and you put them in giant bags and
Santa comes on Christmas Eve to one hundred and seventy
(08:07):
seven rooms or whoever chooses to participate. So that's a
big thing for the holidays. We also have a campaign
going on right now where you can We call it
Send a Snowflake, and it's really just a way for
our community to tell families at the house that they're
thinking of them. So if you go to our website,
which is our image Cincinnati dot org, you'll see it
on there and you can just click and submit your name.
(08:29):
We have a lot of windows in the house, huge windows,
and we cover them with decals with everyone's name, so
like if you wrote in it would say Sandy and
there'd be a snowflake up on the wall just showing
the families that you care about them. That doesn't cost
a thing.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
And links of course if you do want to volunteer,
if you want to figure out how you can help,
and also to donate it this time of year, there's
links there on that site.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
Yes, we have a great meal program called Taste of Hope,
which is a really fun way to get it.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
You do it. I love the way you do it.
Thank you. It's a lot of fun.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
You get to have a cooking life and with friends
or family or coworkers and then serve all of our
families and eat together.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
So that's a lot of fun.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
And then a big ongoing need all year long, not
just the holidays, is individual snacks. We have a little
snack station where families grab things on the way to
the hospital and we go through hundreds and hundreds of snacks.
So that's all on our website. You know, if you
don't want to bring things down and drop them at
the house, you can just order it through our Amazon
wish list. And that's something that's always really appreciated by
(09:26):
our families.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
It's just an amazing thing as well to be able
to just go online and shop and say send us
to the Ronald McDonald House and boom, you just got
so easy x amount of packages coming to you.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
What kind of volunteer opportunities do you have for folks
who might want to come and help out at the house.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
We are fortunate to have so many amazing volunteers from
our community, and currently we have very few individual volunteer
opportunities just because we've had such a huge outpouring of
support that most of our shifts are full. But I
mentioned our meals program, and then there's also you can
come in and make a snack for a family, as
(10:02):
you can do an ice cream social where you just
bring ice cream and all the toppings are like a
popcorn bar. Just something like that. That is a nice
little break for a family. It's just something fun and
that's easy to do with friends.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
The Ronald McDonald House in Dayton, where I worked for
just a short time about a year or so, they're expanding.
They've been expanding for a couple of years and I
just reached out to Rid, a seer from the house
who runs the house there, and they've been under construction
for how many years? Has it been three four something
like least and then got slowed down with the pandemic, etc.
And they won't have nearly as many rooms there. But again,
(10:39):
you know, across the street from the Dayton Children's makes
it so convenient, and to just know that people are
everybody that's in the Ronald McDonald House here in Cincinnati
is someone that sympathizes with you, understands what you're going
through and can help you get the things that you
need so that you can focus on your kid. Is
there anything else that we can do to help the house?
(11:01):
You know, at the end of this year and then
going into next year, do you have any future plans
that are coming up, any big fund raising things.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
We have two big fund raisers. We have a golf
outing which is usually in June, and then at gala
in the fall.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
So those have already passed for this year.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
But you know, there's always a need for donations of
any size and that's really easy to do on our website.
That's really the best way to help the house. And
then I mentioned the wish list as well. If people
would rather send in items, that's another great way to
care for our families.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
Can you give me the address there across the street
from the hospital. What's the actual time.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
It's three forty one erkham Brecker and it's just a
couple blocks from the zoo and right across the street
from Sinsign Children's.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
And you'll take donations and things like that. Absolutely time
you want to do that.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
And what about the pool tabs? Do you keep the
poll tabs? We do do pull tabs. Yes, we recycle
them and they do bring in some revenue to the house.
But the great thing about poll tabs is it gets
every time you pull a tab off your can, you
kind of think at the house and the family's there,
so it just helps keep it top of mind. But
we do recycle them and it is a revenue source.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
Yeah, it actually is. I asked to Rita, I think
it was one time, why don't you why don't you
just get the whole can because there's so much more
aluminum in the can, And she says, because it's more
of a reminder in a way to get the word out,
and we're not trash collectors, so we're just going to
take the tab And I laughed out loud. I thought
that was the best answer in the world. That's the
(12:28):
whole point.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
We also get a better rate for just the tabal
aluminum without writing, and yeah, you get more for just this.
And another great way you mentioned it at the beginning,
but round up at McDonald's restaurants. Whenever you're going through
the drive through, you can just ask them to round
up for the house. And that's a great way to support.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
Us too, because McDonald's corporation is a big sponsor, but
they don't fund the houses. That's correct.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
McDonald's and their customers are about seven percent of our
annual budget, so they're wonderful supporters, but it really takes
the whole community to keep our doors open.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
To do it because you do some great work. Jennifer Low,
thank you, CEO of the Ronald McDonald House Charities of
Greater Cincinnati. You can send a snowflake, do some toys
here this year for the kids, and they've gone one
hundred and seventy seven families every night. They're serving and
certainly have a need for your help. So thank you
for your help, and thank you Jennifer for being here today.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
Thank you, Sandy.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
That's the show for this week and that's what we
approach the holidays. Take some time for yourself, and savor
the moments with your family. Too soon, they'll only be memories.
Thanks to my guest today. If you want to hear
the show again or share it, find Iheartsinsey on the
iHeartRadio app on your phone, on your podcasts, or on
your computer. At iHeart dot com, the links to our
(13:44):
guests and contact information is there as well. If you
have a comment about a show or a suggestion for
an upcoming show, a nonprofit, or a guest, just shoot
me an email iHeart Sinsey with an I at iHeartMedia
dot com. I'm Sandy Collins. Thanks for listening. iHeart Cinci
is a production of iHeartMedia, Cincinnati,
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