House Visits The House
Players and staff prepare meal and serve families
This past Monday Chicago House players and staff visited the Ronald McDonald House near Ann & Robert H Lurie Children’s Hospital. The group prepared dinner with House chef, Kevin Guida, served the families staying at the House and took a tour of the facility. Chicago House A.C. has partnered with Ronald McDonald House Charities of Chicago and Northwest Indiana (RMHC-CNI) ahead of the team’s upcoming Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup first round tournament match which will be played on Wednesday, March 22 at 7:00 PM at Langhorst Stadium at Elmhurst University. The collaboration will feature the team wearing a special edition kit with the RMHC-CNI logo on the front. After the club’s tournament run the jerseys will be auctioned with proceeds going to charity. Additionally, half of the advanced tickets sales will be donated.
Matt Poland: “I haven’t had a lot of experience with Ronald McDonald House in that past, but I’ve served a few meals at Ronald McDonald Houses throughout the years. I’ve never done the cooking of the meal, I’ve only brought in catered food and served it to people, so the making of the meal was a new adventure for me.
I grew up in a big medical community, so that aspect I’m quite familiar with. I have family members with medical jobs, but I think this was a really good time for the players to get to open their world view to something else and see a different struggle and challenge that family members are going through. Whenever you do that, it gives you so much perspective on problems, frustrations and complaints in your own life, and realize that maybe I do have a lot of things to be grateful for, and I think that’s a beautiful take away as well.
I think what’s really special about going through the tour and meeting families is how well The House tries to make it special for each family. They make it comfortable and give them the environment they want, and also how many different options they have to make things perfect for each family and specific for each family. The House they run is incredible.”
Isaac Carnalla: “I chose to volunteer last night because I’ve had family members that were sick as well, and I thought it would be nice to give back. Even if it was just a meal, I thought it would be nice. I think if you can be helpful in any way, why not? What really struck me is how the kids are suffering. We don’t realize how good we have it out here in the real world. But when you go into that environment it gives you a little a little reality check, you realize that you’re fortunate. The volunteer program was really cool, I didn’t realize it was going to be that hands on, but it actually made it a cool experience because I don’t really cook much and I got to learn as well.”
Ian Murray: “I’ve never volunteered at Ronald McDonald House before, but I’ve read about it and am familiar with them. I know people who volunteer with them, but never have been a part of it before myself. I thought it was a great opportunity to connect with one of our partners and help those in need. When we have time to give it’s important to give back, it’s bigger than just the sports. Seeing the faces of the families as they walk through, and getting to talk with a few of them is what I took away from it, as well as getting to spend time with teammates, staff and coaches was a great experience all around.”
Adam Mann: “I volunteered because it’s a big part of what Chicago House does in general. Since I’ve been here, we’ve done the Bronzeville tour and being a new person to the city it was the perfect opportunity to learn about Chicago and get some history. We have also been involved with some charities; I’ve always been involved with clubs that do that. I think it’s important that we connect with the local people and see how things work. I didn’t know about Ronald McDonald House until House got involved with it. Last night it gave me answers as to what happens to families that have to travel far for medical treatment because it is tough. We (in the UK) have NHS, but medical costs can be very steep here. I understand that it can really be a financial burden, so it opened my eyes that a little help can go a long way. It gave me a lot of insight about things you don’t think about, what families need, this can really be a lifeline. It’s an amazing concept. The thing I took away from it was that I’d love more people to do it. Like I said, I think it’s a great concept and as a team you could all do it and make a regular thing. All people in general should be involved, when I left, I actually felt like I had done something, which is great and rewarding.”