Illustration by Estefania B. Alonso
Students will bake cupcakes and cookies with children.
By Grayce Trevino
sac-ranger@alamo.edu
This college will send volunteers today to bake goods with children and their families at the Ronald McDonald House near campus.
All clubs, faculty, staff, students and adult family members are welcome to join the activity.
For more information or to participate, students should contact Joseph Liedecke, coordinator of student success, at jliedecke@alamo.edu with their full name and Banner ID.
Participants will gather at 11:30 a.m. today at the community engagement annex next to the Methodist Student Center on West Dewey Place.
They will then walk to the Ronald McDonald House, 227 Lewis St., where out-of-town families stay for free while their children receive medical treatment in San Antonio.
This college will provide the ingredients to make cupcakes, cookies and cakes. Volunteers will break into teams in four kitchens.
Liedecke said this college has been doing events like this for many years.
“It’s a good thing to do; it’s the right thing to do,” Liedecke said. Such events get “students involved in their own backyard.”
Many student clubs require a certain amount of volunteer hours. Participation will count toward this.
Students are also gaining experience that can be written on their résumé.
A lot of volunteers are also given employment opportunities, Liedecke said.
The Ronald McDonald House houses families of sick children, according to the Ronald McDonald House Charities history page online.
Many families are forced to travel long distances to get medical treatment for their children.
The Ronald McDonald House was started Oct. 15, 1974, by Fred Hill from the Philadelphia Eagles. His daughter had to get medical care for leukemia.
Hill and his wife spent long days and nights on hospital benches and in waiting rooms. Today, there are more than 350 Ronald McDonald Houses around the globe.
The Ronald McDonald House near this college is housing 12 families, roughly 25-30 people.
Heather Bivin, director of community and guest relations, said she is excited to have this college at their facility.
“We love it,” Bivin said. “Being a nonprofit, we rely heavily on volunteers.”
“(The kids) need that social interaction; it really does make them feel special,” Bivin said.
Bivin hopes everyone has a “fun, laid-back time. We put out fliers and mention it verbally to all the residents we come in contact with.”
Families of no more than four can stay for free at the Ronald McDonald House.
They must have a permanent address of more than 20 miles away.
Families are also assigned small household chores like vacuuming.
The baked goods will go to the residents at the Ronald McDonald House.
The volunteers will be making someone’s life a little better and brighter, Liedecke said.
“Besides all of that, it makes you feel good; it makes you feel good to know you’re helping someone else,” Liedecke said.
