General Manager Cassi Hider recieves a donation from South Country Co-op Friday Afternoon (Tiffany Goodwein/CHATNewsToday)

By Tiffany Goodwein

helping sick kids

‘Home away from home:’ Ronald McDonald House receives donation from South Country Co-op

Feb 4, 2022 | 5:58 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — It’s a place where families with sick children stay while their children are receiving care at Medicine Hat Regional Hospital, and despite surgery cancellations due to the pandemic, the Ronald McDonald House has been working non-stop to help sick kids and their families.

General Manager Cassi Hider said since opening their doors in 2020, roughly 60 families have come through their doors, with six of them staying last month alone. Hider said families come from communities throughout Southeastern Alberta stretching from Burdett to Brooks, to Taber and Lethbridge. The Ronald McDonald House also serves families in the Swift Current region, according to Hider.

“ We’ve had families stay 11 nights, 17 nights, 21 nights. So we are that home away from home that they desperately need,” Hider said.

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Hider said they serve families with children with a variety of needs. From NICU babies that are too little to go home yet, to children suffering from mental health. Those children, and their families, Hider said are who they have been taking care of the most.

“ Eighty-seven per cent as of late has been youth mental health, it’s an epidemic that has been happening, ” Hider said.

“ So we support the families whose children are getting help at the hospital,” he added.

On Friday afternoon, the Ronald McDonald House received some extra support thanks to South Country Co-op.

Over $5,700 was donated to the Ronald McDonald House. The funds will be used to pay for the food the families need when they come and stay. The Ronald McDonald House has a Home for Dinner program and a Grab and Go Program which provides a home-cooked meal for the families, so they don’t have to worry about what to cook while their children are receiving treatment.

“They come here it is provided to them and it is the least of their worries,” Hider said.

Carmen Hudson, director of marketing and community relations at South Country Co-op said they wanted to support the Ronald McDonald House because of all the good work they do in the community.

“ They are an outstanding partner that really fills a need that we don’t have here. The Ronald McDonald House, has people here every single day, and for us supporting community is what we stand for,” Hudson said.

The money was raised through their Reusable Bag Program which donates three cents for every reusable bag per transaction.

Funds from the program also went to support the Taber Community Health Foundation and the Vauxhall Public Library.