Coffee campaign will help local families

By Mark Ribble

ESSEX COUNTY — Purchasing McCafe coffee at your local grocery store can help local families with their sick children.

Last year, 561 different families from Windsor-Essex took advantage of Ronald McDonald House (RMHC) hospitality available in Windsor and London.

The Ronald McDonald Houses provide a home for families of sick children – more than 26,000 annually, who must travel from out-of-town while their child is being treated at a nearby hospital. RMHC Canada has 34 programs across the country, including 11 in Ontario. Since the first Canadian House opened in Toronto in 1981, RMHC Canada has served more than 414,000 families.

Locally, that breaks down to 85 Leamington families, 35 Kingsville families and 23 Wheatley families who’ve benefited greatly from having access to these accommodations.

A campaign began on September 3 in conjunction with Keurig Canada, to support the Ronald McDonald Houses across this country.

With every purchase of McCafé Premium Roast Coffee packs in grocery stores and online at Keurig.ca/mccafe, $1 will go towards Ronald Mc- Donald House Charities Canada.

Tracey Keighley-Clarke, CEO of Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southwestern Ontario, says that about 75 percent of RMHC’s funding is done through fundraising such as the current campaign.“Everyone loves coffee,” she said. “This will allow people to get that daily coffee and support this wonderful cause.”

“The stats tell us that one-in-four people know someone who has stayed at a Ronald McDonald House,” she added.

Keighley-Clarke points out that the Windsor Ronald McDonald House is the only one in the country that is actually on-site at the hospital, making it unique in that families don’t have to travel outside at the end of the day.

Caroline, Rylee, Jacob and Jason Warkentin at Ronald McDonald House in London in 2018.

Locally, the family of Rylee Warkentin know all too well, the welcoming feeling of Ronald McDonald House.

The Kingsville family spent 116 days at the London location after Rylee was born back in 2018.

Rylee was born with no diaphragm on her left side and her lungs were very underdeveloped.

“We knew from the start that Rylee’s treatment could be anywhere from a few weeks to months,” said her mom, Caroline. “When we started researching about Ronald McDonald House London, and learned how much it helped so many families, the fear of ‘how will we do this?’ went away. “

For Caroline and her husband Jason, it was a welcome relief to have somewhere comfortable to stay.

“It became our home-away-from-home, just steps away from her hospital room,” she said. “For Rylee’s first birthday, we collected donations for the House. We wanted

the money raised to help other families when they need medical care in London or Windsor for their seriously ill children.”

Rylee is now a feisty two-year-old. Her mother says she still has lung issues and pulmonary hypertension, but doctors are hoping it corrects itself as she grows older.

With RMHC experiencing up to a 40 per cent reduction of funding as a result of the pandemic, the money raised from the generosity of Canadian coffee lovers through this program will be meaningful and essential to RMHC’s support of families across Canada.

To learn more, visit: www.rmhccanada.ca.