President Keith Walker opened the meeting at 5:30 pm.
Funds were donated to American Red Cross and the pelican is
visiting Gail Pollard.
Members were asked if they were interested in attending the
Stage West dinner theater on May 5.
Enough members showed interest so signup will happen at a future meeting
and Keith will notify Stage West.
Our guest speaker was Colleen Fox from the Ronald McDonald
House Charities of Spokane. She
distributed copies of their 2013 annual report which shows that 541 families
stayed at the house and 265 families had to be turned away because all
facilities were full. Families are
referred by hospital social workers and the only eligibility criteria are that
the family has to travel over 40 miles to Spokane and the child is under
18. Families can stay as long as the
child is receiving ongoing care. About
50% of the families have a premature infant; 25% have a child with cancer and
55% of the families are from Eastern Washington.
She explained that each Ronald McDonald House operates
separately so 100% of funds collected in our area remain in Spokane. Each house creates partnerships with the
local McDonalds franchisees and McDonalds Corporation only provides limited
financial support (usually toward capital costs).
In addition to the house, the charities provide day use family
rooms at Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital which were used by over 1,500 people
in 2013. The charities also provide a
mobile care unit which provides medical, dental and health services to children
in the Yakima Valley.
The next Kiwanis meeting is April 10 at 7am. Speakers will be Earl and Bonnie Overlie and
they will talk about Special Olympics and FACE (Friends Across Cheney Equally).
Jeri
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