Ronald McDonald House having red shoe event

The Ronald McDonald House Party — Red Shoes, Vines & Brews will be from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Sept. 25.

The inaugural fundraiser will serve a dual purpose: To distinguish the nonprofit from other charities and to showcase the services that Ronald McDonald House has provided for the families of children facing serious injury or illness in Southern Arizona for almost 35 years.

“We came up with the idea of hosting something here at our location and thought this would give the opportunity for those who continually support us and for those who may not be aware that we are here to experience a fun, lighthearted evening and to take a tour of the Ronald McDonald House to physically see what their generosity does … more often than not when people do come to the house, we hear them say, ‘Wow, I had no idea,’” said Anne Rounds, chief development officer of the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southern Arizona.

Rounds said the Ronald McDonald House became somewhat a landmark during its 27 years on Speedway prior to moving eight years ago into a 24,000-square-foot facility on the Banner-University of Arizona Medical Center north campus.

The house serves an average of 400 families annually who travel to Tucson seeking medical care for children age 21 or younger. The house provides accommodations from one night to as long as necessary.

“One of the new metrics we started to uncover was the cost that a Ronald McDonald House offsets for those families,” said Rounds. “If we take a conservative calculation of the amount of time and money contributed for meals and lodging, we estimated that we offset approximately $885,000 per year collectively for these families.”

Among the recipients are Joy and Hoke Taylor, who received services from the Ronald McDonald House when their daughter, Ashley, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in May 2013. Coincidentally, their daughter, Amber Cobbs, also utilized its services when she had twins born prematurely right after Ashley was diagnosed.

The Taylors, residents of Oracle, used the House as a home base for eight months while Ashley was treated at Banner Children’s-Diamond Children’s Medical Center.

Joy credits the House as an indispensable option for food and lodging throughout Ashley’s medical ordeal and in follow-up hospitalizations during this past year.

“The Ronald McDonald House has been such a huge blessing for us and we will never be able to repay all they did for our family,” said Joy. “Without them, we would probably have had to rent an apartment in town or sell our house and move to Tucson and we wouldn’t have been able to do it. It would have been impossible for us to sell everything and try to move.”

While the financial support was vital, Joy said that the emotional and logistical support from the house manager, staff and volunteers at the house was equally significant because it allowed them to focus solely on caring for Ashley.

Additionally, Joy said the encouragement and support for Ashley — which ranged from small gifts and plates of food to full-blown holiday celebrations — made a huge difference to their daughter.

“It wasn’t just that we had a place to stay. The truly thoughtful things that they did for Ashley were also just so helpful for her,” she said.

Rounds reiterated that the best way to promote awareness and showcase services is by simply inviting the public for the house party event. In true Ronald McDonald spirit, attendees are encouraged to wear red shoes.

“This is truly like a house party. We are hosting our guests at our home in our own back yard, making it heartfelt and engaging and showing them, ‘This is what we do; thank you for making it possible and let’s celebrate it all,’ ” Rounds said.