Ronald McDonald House salutes a few good men and women
The mission of Ronald McDonald House Charities is to provide comfort, care and support to children and families in Southern California. And the seventh annual A Few Good Men & Women Gala, held Sept. 29 at Agua Caliente Resort Casino Spa Rancho Mirage, honored those who work tirelessly to help the nonprofit achieve its goals.
As cochair Jack Srebnik told the more than 330 guests at the event, when a doctor tells you you have cancer it is the second worst day of your life. The worst day of your life is when a doctor tells you your child has cancer.
Srebnik joined cochair Michelle Stansfield along with board chair Ann Piller to introduce the men and women who have dedicated their time to put together packages that help fund the Inland Empire Ronald McDonald House, which aids the patients and families receiving treatment at Loma Linda Children’s Hospital.
Children from the Coachella Valley and beyond who are diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses requiring hospital stays need their families nearby. But many cannot afford to find comfortable lodgings close to the hospital, where their child’s stay could last weeks, months, even years.
Take the Espinoza family from Thermal. Their twins, Veronica and Vanessa, were born in 2006; one was healthy, the other had a brain tumor. Over the past 17 years, their parents have had to utilize the Ronald McDonald house while their daughter endured a number of surgeries and setbacks. An 80-mile journey with a hotel stay for weeks on end would have financially devastated the family.
An astonishing 1,806 families stayed in the Inland Empire Ronald McDonald House in 2022, and it’s thanks to the generosity of so many in our valley that they were able to have this amazing home away from home, which provides not only food and shelter but, more importantly, peace of mind to those in need.
Guests at the Sept. 29th event got to meet this amazing family and hear the story of their journey.
This year’s honorees were Bianca Rae, Emmy award-winning news anchor; Gil and Marlene Ruttenberg, general manager of Honda of the Desert; Willie Rhine, restaurateur of three local eateries; Peggy Michel, assistant tournament director for the BNP Paribas Open; Ricky Jenkins, pastor of Southwest Church; Tim Leiweke, CEO of Oak View Group; Steve and Candace Garvey, Garvey Media Group; and Lizette Vela, owner of Enchanted Memories.
The BB Ingle award was given to Frank Harrison, a 2018 honoree who has remained involved with the gala and the house itself.
To learn more about the Ronald McDonald House or make a donation, visit rmhcsc.org.
Carole Stephen-Smith began writing in Scotland for a woman’s weekly at the age of 15 and then covered American celebrities for the London Evening Echo. Arriving in the desert, she wrote for Desert Woman in the 1990s. Carole focuses on charities that help women as well as medical causes, especially breast cancer awareness, and all aspects of child abuse.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Ronald McDonald House salutes a few good men and women
