Thank You, Minnesota Wild Foundation!

Thank you to the Minnesota Wild Foundation and to the fans in the state of hockey! From February 14 to March 4, the Minnesota Wild and Xcel Energy Center hosted a 50/50 raffle to benefit RMHC-UM. $13,717 in prize money went to five lucky participants and more than $14,000 was raised for RMHC-UM! Plus, over 18,000 fans at 5 games got to know us a little better.

We were honored to be the beneficiary for the raffle at 5 games.

Thank you to the great volunteers who have come out to help us sell tickets.

We've enjoyed attending the games and working with the Minnesota Wild Foundation to ensure care was taken each night as winners were selected from thousands of participants. We're especially proud of the five wonderful volunteer groups who have stepped up to support us and work as cheerleaders pitching the sale of tickets in support of RMHC-UM. They've given up parts of their weekend and even braved the weather to be there and we are grateful.

The following photos chronicle the raffle at the February 28th game. We were sad to see the Wild lose, but happy to see a winner walk away with $2,000 and to bring back $2,000 to support families.

Giving the tickets a good spin for luck and safety.

Carynn Roehrick, Director of Volunteers, is eager to pull the winning ticket.

A sea of tickets and support for RMHC-UM!

Reaching in and selecting the winning ticket.

Another set of great volunteers proudly display the winning ticket!

Oscars Party at the Ronald McDonald Family Room®

It is estimated 39.3 million people watched the Academy Awards last Sunday and that number includes the patients and families at Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare who attended our Oscars party! We celebrated with caramel corn, miniature Oscars and families filled out ballots to guess winners per category. We all had a blast gushing over the gorgeous dresses and beautiful people, but the most exciting part of the night was guessing the winners. When the ballots were totaled, the family with the most correct guesses was the Glime family! With 10 correct guesses out of 24 possible categories, Melissa Glime claimed her prize of 4 Minnesota Zoo passes and a miniature Oscar! Congrats, Melissa, you sure know your movies!

Every Pop Tab Counts!

Last week at the Ronald McDonald Family Room inside Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare, I was very excited to see a patient named Gavin bring in a large bag. I asked Gavin what was inside the bag and he said “A ton of pop tabs!” In fact, it was a 12lb bag of pop tabs he had been saving for us. Gavin had his friends and family save all of their pop tabs over the last few months. He was so excited to donate them and I was equally excited to accept them! Thank you to everyone who collects pop tabs, and just as Gavin told me, every pop tab counts and makes a difference.

Pantry Donation!

Thank you, Twin City Bond Club, for supporting the Ronald McDonald Family Room with your donation.

At the Ronald McDonald Family Room inside Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare, we are SO thankful when we receive donations of any sort. Last week, we received a donation from the Twin City Bond Club to help keep our pantry stocked! The pantry is such a wonderful part of our space and is truly appreciated by all of the families here. There is nothing like a homemade meal and feeling taken care of during a difficult time. Thanks to donors like the Twin City Bond Club, this is a reality for families at the Ronald McDonald Family Room! From all of the families and staff at the Ronald McDonald Family Room, thank you, Twin City Bond Club for making sure our pantry is full! What an amazing showing of support!