knoxrmhc .org1705 West Clinch Avenue l Knoxville, Tennessee 37916

Tennessee’s First

Spring heralds the return of budding trees, warmer days, and our fi rst major fundraiser of theyear, the WATE “Helping Hands” Telethon. Held this year on Saturday, April 4, the event exceeded our expectations as we signed off after an hour on-air with over $188,000 in gifts and pledges. The evening’s success was due to a host of caring folks, such as D.J.’s from area radio stations who answered the phones, the management at Charter Me-dia for simulcasting the event, the talented crew from WATE and, most importantly, the eight

former RMH families who came back to share their stories with a compassionate audience.

Our Telethon Returns for Year #18

Kristin with the Cagles

SPRING l 2009

The Pershings

Akima’s McMake-over

..AFTER!before..

Raise your hand, if like us, you can’t get enough of TV pro-grams featuring room make-overs. When we were contacted last fall by members of Akima,

a women’s service organization, about doing a makeover in honor of their 60-year anniversary, we were more than thrilled. The House had one room that

compared to the youngest child in a large family…always receiving the “hand-me-downs”. The rec room, while comfortable and serviceable, was a bit worse for

wear and was on our remodel-ing “to-do” list. As if in answer to our need, along came Akima and the transformation, includ-ing leather furniture, custom draperies, and new artwork is nothing short of spectacular. Their greatest compliment, though, came from one of our moms when she walked into the newly decorated space, backed out, and went in again. She was trying to fi nd the rec room and she had indeed found it…she simply didn’t rec-ognize it! The room is now so warm and inviting… just what you’d want in your own home. What better way for Akima to celebrate a milestone than to share such a gift!

Celebrating 25 Years of Caring

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Elavon Elevates

Hard at work

our House armed with rakes, brooms, mulch, pressure wash-ers, varnish, and hedge trimmers and spent the day and untold dollars sprucing up our play areas, family gardens, and the grounds in general. As part of their Knoxville Development Program, the lo-cal company’s 1,200 employees are given one day each year of paid leave to donate to an area non-profi t. Their Herculean eff orts re-sulted in a picture-perfect yard that would make even Mother Nature proud.

On April 8, a dozen employees from Elavon, a global payment processing company, came to

Save the Date! May 30: What fun for all at the 7th Annual Float-A-Thon to be held at Dollywood’s Splash Country. Grab your bathing suit and join us.

June 5: Our RMH Charity Golf Tournament will be held at Egwani Farms with AM & PM tee-times available.

Aug. 1: The Oak Ridge Country Club will host the 31st Annual KFI Golf Tournament, clambake, and auction.

Nov. 21: Our U.T. Vols will be playing Vanderbilt and the lovely ladies of ADPi will host the Turkey Tailgate…so make certain to wear your “big orange” and come hungry.

Tusculum College Lights Up Our House

You light up our lives!

In today’s world there’s not a day that goes by now without hearing the phrase…”going green”. And that’s exactly what a group of dedicated Tusculum College students have helped our House achieve, all because of a business plan they were asked to develop as part of a class project. “Rather than just make up a business to complete the as-signment, our group decided to develop an actual business plan for a real organization that might not have the re-sources to do the research and implement action,” said Deb-

bie McCoy, one of the students. The group contacted our House with the idea of replacing all the incandescent bulbs with compact

fl uorescent lamps (CFL’s). Based on their calculations of attributing 15% of the House’s electric bills to lighting, spreadsheets showed we could realize a savings of $500 each month. They even went so far as to contact GE Lighting General Distributors who agreed to donate all 750 of the energy-effi cient bulbs to re-lamp both our Houses. And the installation of those bulbs?….that is the fi nal gift from this incredible group of students who are in the process of chang-ing out each and every one. Theirs is truly a gift that will keep ongiving…and saving!

Thanks to the support

of loyal McDonald’s cus-

tomers, our local House

received $30,839.52 from

last November’s fund-

raiser. Thanks to all who

came, cared, and ate!!

Canister Change Does Add Up. Next time you stop by McDonald’s, please make certain to drop your change in the RMHC canisters.

You might think to yourself, “what good will these few coins do?” Well, the answer is “more than you know”. Last year alone, over $75,000

was raised from our area canisters and that’s some “chunk of change” which can “change” a family’s life for the better.

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Family Focus: The Wilders When they found out they were expecting their fi rst child, Travis & Kim Wilder of Corbin, KY, did what any other couple would do… they called family to share the happy news…they started dreaming of what the nursery would look like and they began thinking of the perfect name for their baby. Soon into the pregnancy, their initial joy was doubled when the doctor told them they would need to come up with not one, but TWO names. And so began the eagerly anticipated arrival of Emma & Addison whose birth, they were told, would be in early January of this year. But, as often happens, babies have their own schedules, and the Wilder girls made their grand entrance nearly 2 ½ months ear-ly at only 27 weeks. Those fi rst days were such a frenzy of activ-ity for Travis & Kim and their ex-tended family as the girls were transferred to the NICU at near-by Children’s Hospital where they were to spend the next 97 days. With the knowledge that the babies were in good hands, it was fi nally time for mom and dad to consider their needs…

Aren’t the girls adorable?

“care for the caregivers” as we call it. As is the case with the major-ity of families that fi nd their way to our door, the Wilders had heard of the Ronald McDonald House but weren’t quite sure of what the House was all about or what they could expect. But knowing they were facing an extended hospitalization and real-izing that paying for a hotel and 3 meals a day wasn’t an aff ordable option, they were willing to explore what we had to off er. Their fi rst impression of our House was the greatest compliment we could ever receive…”It was

home, very warm and welcoming,” recalled Kim. Within a few days of arriving, Tra-vis & Kim settled into a familiar rou-tine of spending hours on end at the hospital, snatching a nap here, a meal there, basically coming and going 24/7 for those bedside vigils. The news that Addison was found to have some brain injury due to her prematurity added to their anxi-ety and they found the days and weeks passed into oblivion. The girls progressed, slowly but surely, growing and gaining weight, ounce by ounce, with every milestone celebrated and greeted with a

thankful prayer. Before they knew it, the holi-day season was upon them and with it, the realization that they hadn’t been home since October and that they wouldn’t be home for Christmas. After a particularly long and stressful day at the hospital, Travis & Kim were overwhelmed to come back from their visit to fi nd they had been “adopted” by some caring “elves” at an area busi-ness who had brought not only presents for the girls, but some gift certifi cates for meals and gasoline. “It just hadn’t felt like Christmas,” said Kim. “But how wonderful it was fi nding all those gifts at our door…we just sat down and cried.” The best present, though a bit belated, was getting to take the girls home in mid-January where they continue to thrive and look forward to future holidays spent at “Home”! “We cannot say enough good about the Ronald McDonald House. We want to return in the near future with the twins and cook for families and re-turn the favor that had been shared with us. This place is a wonderful blessing.”

caption 3The Caring Continues, Thanks to Farm Bureau After a good night’s sleep, the second most important gift we can off er a family is that of nourishment. Sometimes that comes in the form of a home-cooked meal courtesy of a vol-unteer. But more often than not, it’s the well-stocked freez-ers and pantries that off er the sought-after sustenance. Twenty-four hours a day,

a family can reach in the cupboard to fi nd a can of soup to heat up for a meal on-the-go, or a package of crackers or a granola bar that can be slipped into the purse of a mom to nibble on the way to the hospital. Thanks to our caring friends at area Farm Bureaus, we have a seemingly endless supply of food to off er…$2,300 worth, to be ex-act. This year, February 17 marked

the date when the average Ameri-can had earned enough money to purchase groceries to last the entire year. To celebrate the aff ordabil-ity of food in our country, Ron-ald Houses across the country were also blessed with a similar bounty from their respective Farm Bureau offi ces.

Unloading the bounty

Non-Profi tOrganization

U.S. Postage

PAIDPermit No. 309Knoxville, TN

Ronald McDonald House Charities of Knoxville1705 W. Clinch AvenueKnoxville, TN 37916865.637.7475www.knoxrmhc.orgReturn Service Requested

Julie HowardJohn HunterKirk IcussRene JordanDavid MartinJane MartinMarianne NicholsDana O’KelleyButch PeccoloEd PershingCindy SpenceWilliam Terry, M.D.

2009 Board of Directors:

Laura BarnesMark Brodd John Buckingham Joe Burger Jo Cochran Bill EvansLynne Fain Mark Gaylord, M.D. Keith Goodwin Jamie HahnTerri HaleMyra Haynes

Many thanks to Best Buy who donated converter boxes and the labor to install them in all the bed-rooms at the Main House, just in time for the digital transition.

This spring, we’ve been twice-blessed by the Air Na-tional Guard Offi cer’s Training Program that supplied volunteers who took orders to clean, trim, paint, and weed even from “civilian” staff at the House.

The Student Council at Farragut Intermediate School raised $600 for our benefi t by sponsoring “Crazy Hat Day”.

The homeschoolers group came and planted 3 beds with lovely fl owers.

The wonderful students at Farragut Middle School raised $250 with a Valentine’s Day fundraiser.

Townsend Elementary School Kindergarten learned about counting and helping by collecting $135.50 in pennies.

Ecolab was so kind to send 9 cases of cleaning products our way.

We so deeply appreciate the area Girl Scout Troops that have donated so many boxes of cookies to help satisfy our families’ “sweet-tooth” cravings.

John Watson of Common Grounds who once again this year is donating lawn maintenance for us. Old Fashion Upholstery has been so good to us by either donating or greatly reducing their costs on recovering so much of our furniture.

We’re delighted that La-Z-Boy has joined the ranks of RMHC national donors and we’re delighted as well with the 2 new pieces of furniture they have donated.

Kindnesses of the HeartHeaear

You Can Make A Difference minum cans and/or tabs at the House and our volunteer Lou Dailey and her family will deliver them to the recycling center for you and then mail the proceeds to us. See, it couldn’t be easier!! Think a few cans won’t make a diff erence? Well, think again. We made almost $6,000 last year alone! Ounce by ounce…pound by pound, your recycling eff orts at home or work could go a long way to help our families (and Mother Earth as well!)

When people think of helping a charity, they oftentimes reach for their wallets. But during these trying economic times, that can be a challenge for many. Luckily for our House, there are a myriad of ways to help! Peruse the wish list on our web-site (www.knoxrmhc.org) and donate needed items when you fi nd a sale. Donate your time and bake a batch of home-made cookies for our families to enjoy. Or how about recycling for us? Simply drop off your alu-

rently resides in Straw Plains with her husband Mike. When the tax season is behind her, she enjoys gourmet cooking, music, kayaking, and spoiling her four grandchil-dren. She’s the perfect addition to our fi nance committee. Joe Burger has been a McDonald’s owner-operator since 1996, open-ing his fi rst restaurant in Andrews, SC, followed by an additional store in Pawley’s Island. Thankfully for us, he and his wife Jill purchased 5 restaurants from the Cochran fam-ily and moved to Knoxville in 2007 where his 2 sons and their spouses have entered the business as well.

We were thrilled to have some former Board members “offi cial-ly” re-join the family for another 3-year term: Butch Peccolo, the esteemed Treasurer at the Uni-versity of Tennessee; Bill Evans, the Community Relations Di-rector for WATE-TV6, and Dana O’Kelley, the chair of our House Committee and decorator ex-traordinaire. And we were delighted to wel-come 2 new members into the fold for what we hope will be the beginning of a long-time involve-ment. Marianne Nichols, a Ten-nessee native, is a CPA and Senior Tax Manager with LBMC who cur-

Board Update

We relish the long-time support of our friends at Carter Middle School who call each month to see what items are “very much needed” from our wish list…and then graciously delivering them.

Christmas Décor once again installed thousands of lights to brighten the holidays for all.