The holidays are a time to spend with family, but some families this year may be far away from home to be close to their ill child. The Bakersfield Ronald McDonald House, located behind Memorial Hospital, is a home away from home for such families.
Scarlett Sabin, the Ronald McDonald house manager, said volunteers are always needed.
“I find my job rewarding because you’re helping to make a difference,” she said.
Sabin gave different ideas for those who are hoping to help out for the holidays, including baking cookies or homemade treats, bringing Christmas stockings to the house, organizing a drive within their community or picking up a shift in the house.
Twenty-five to 30 volunteers share shifts in the house, but it is not enough. Only 15 regulars help out including students from the East Bakersfield High School Health Careers Academy and AmeriCorps. Sabin said there are many opportunities to help out and it is always needed, not just during the holidays.
“Finding someone to cook dinner for the families is appreciated,” she said.
Once a month, Walgreens donates a list of requested items to the house. Everything donated stays at the local house.
“People who donate understand what it’d be like to have a sick child and are thankful for having healthy children,” Sabin explained.
The Bakersfield house is the 286th in the world and serves families with children in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and Pediatric Units. They have housed families for as long as 25 days. Sabin said that circumstances are day to day, but it’s their job to make the families feel at home.
“It’s our job to make it home while they’re with us. We miss them when they leave and sometimes cry,” she said.
Support is what the Ronald McDonald House is all about.
Sabin said, “We taught a mom from India how to make cupcakes and pancakes because she didn’t know how to. There are intercultural experiences as well.”
For more information on how to volunteer or donate, call Sabin at the house 327-4647 extension 4290 or visit their website at www.BakersfieldRMH.org.