A Thank You From Erin And Summer - Ronald McDonald House ...

Summer Edition 2011
Ronald Mcdonald House cHaRities of GReateR cincinnati
Family News
A Thank You from Erin and Summer
Dear Friends at Ronald McDonald House:
As horrific as the recent events of our life have been,
Summer and I have been quite blessed by the kindness
of so many people in so many ways. Thank you for being
some of those people! I have been amazed by the love
that has poured out on us since October and want you
to know your support and prayers are much appreciated.
Given what we have been through, we are doing well –
Summer is recovering her function beautifully and we are
slowly finding our new normal. My rambunctious daughter
is back despite her hardware, and I’m certain her daddy
is smiling as he watches over her. We will always miss Ryan,
but he loved us well and would want us to be truly happy
again – we will get there with time.
Thank you for your support along this journey!
With much gratitude,
Erin & Summer Maley
A House for Hope and Healing
One day last October, as Erin Maley and her
family were enjoying a road trip to Cincinnati to
visit friends, a car raced through a red light going
65 mph, crashed into the driver’s side of their car,
and shattered her world to pieces.
When Erin woke up at University Hospital days
later, the horrible reality came rushing back to her:
Her husband, Ryan, was dead, she had sustained
“I don’t know how it worked that we got a
bed the same day as I was discharged, but
it was so nice having the House to come
to right away, especially living two hours
away, and to just be able to walk over to
the hospital to see her.”
Summer in her hospital bed
after the accident
Summer and her dad
before the accident
serious abdominal injuries that had required
emergency surgery, and her daughter, 20-monthold
Summer, had broken her neck and suffered a
spinal injury, which partially impaired her right
side.
Erin wanted to run straight to her daughter’s
bedside at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical
Center, but she was kept at University for a total
of six days, and, when she was discharged, she
couldn’t escape the fact that she was two hours
away from her home in Bellefontaine, Ohio, and
needed someplace to stay.
Luckily, the Ronald McDonald House opened
its doors.
“I don’t know how it worked that we got a bed the
same day as I was discharged, but it was so nice
A House For Hope And Healing .......................................... 2
Adopt a Room Sponsors ...................................................... 2
Volunteer’s Spirit Lives on Through Room Sponsorship ...... 3
Share a Meal with Our Families this Summer ...................... 4
Please Grant a Wish During Your Next Grocery Trip .......... 4
In the Words of a Child ....................................................... 4
Did You Know Our Mission Began With a Little Girl
Named Kim Hill? ............................................................. 4
Kids Helping Kids ............................................................... 5
Red Tie Gala ........................................................................ 5
Hope, Home, Hugs ............................................................. 5
Welcome, Elise! .................................................................... 5
Save Those Pull Tabs ............................................................ 6
Thank You for Playing “Fore” Charity! ............................... 6
Thank You from our Executive Director ............................... 7
Giving the Gift of Life ......................................................... 7
Save the Date ........................................................................ 8
Our Mission:
Ronald McDonald House provides an
affordable “home away from home”
for families and their children seeking
medical treatment at Cincinnati
Children’s Hospital Medical Center,
regardless of their ability to pay.
Our Vision:
To offer all the comforts of home to
every family with a hospitalized child.

2
Summer Edition
Adopt a Room
2010-2011
Annual Room Sponsors
Our generous annual room sponsors help
underwrite the cost of families’ lodging,
enabling us to serve all families, regardless of
their ability to contribute toward their stay.
Alpha Delta Pi- Eta Epsilon Chapter
AMGIS Foundation - Cincinnati Directors
Brett & Kristen Hungerford
Best Buy
Jack and Joanne Brown
Mike and Ruthie Brunsman in fond
memory of Karen Braun - volunteer
Vonnie Butera and Family
Dave, Jen, Mia & Maxwell Carver
CCHMC Medical Staff in honor of
James M. Anderson
Chastang’s Tile Service & Installation
Marion and Robert Cheeseman, Sr. Family
Pam Chidester
Cincinnati Children’s Dept. of Anesthesia
Cincinnati Children’s Dept. of Radiology
Convergys Corporation Team
Robin T. Cotton, M.D. & Cynthia Fitton
Creative Media Concepts - Angela Lacy
and Sheryl Waite
The John and Shirley Davies Foundation
Peggy Dowd in honor of her mother
Sissy Dowd
Duke Realty Corporation
dunnhumbyUSA
Jerry and Mary Jean Esselman
Four Bridges Country Club Swim Team
“Flash Makes a Splash”
Dr. and Mrs. H. B. Francis
Tuck Fraser
Freund, Freeze & Arnold, LPA
General Electric Evendale Employees’
Community Service Fund
Paul and Linda Groen and Family
John Hauck Foundation
HDR Engineering, Inc. – Cincinnati
The Heinichen Family
Bill and Lisa Jacoby
The Jents, Morrises, Paolellos &
Wm. Stenger
Klosterman Baking Company
The Lakhia Family in honor of
Dr. Phillip Demio
Lewis and Topmiller Families
The Luciano Family
Peter & Susan McConney and
Joseph & Carla Stein
Continued on page 3
The Maley family before
the accident
having the House to come to right away, especially
living two hours away, and to just be able to walk
over to the hospital to see her,” Erin says.
For the first two weeks, Erin and her mom, Linda
Steinbrenner, spent most of their waking hours by
Summer’s bedside at Cincinnati Children’s. But
even while they passed the days talking to doctors,
keeping vigil and trying to pick up the pieces of their
lives, they had peace of mind knowing they had
a place to go to sleep, food if they needed it, and,
simply, somewhere to unpack their clothes.
“Everyone in the House has been
absolutely wonderful to us, meeting our
needs … and I guess I am a true believer
that if our basic needs are met, such as
food and comfort, then we do have the
energy we need to care for our family”
While Erin’s mind never left her daughter, neither
did Linda’s. Linda knew that even though Erin’s only
concern was Summer, Erin herself had undergone
major surgery and needed to heal and get rest, too.
For Linda, Ronald McDonald House was the answer
to both her and Erin’s prayers.
“Everyone in the House has been absolutely
wonderful to us, meeting our needs … and I guess
I am a true believer that if our basic needs are met,
such as food and comfort, then we do have the
energy we need to care for our family,” she says.
…continued
Life After the Accident
Today, Erin and Summer are back home in
Bellefontaine, and Summer is back to life as a
typical toddler – jumping with energy and always
on the move. She’s made tremendous progress in
occupational and physical therapy and is well on
“The Ronald McDonald House is far
more than a bed, a place for families to
stay,” Erin explains. “It really is a house
for hope and healing when your world is
falling down.”
her way to regaining full function of her right side.
She still has to wear a brace on her neck – and will
have to until this fall, when doctors will determine
if her vertebrae have fused back together – but if
it wasn’t for that, it would be impossible to tell she
was ever in an accident.
While Erin and Summer’s lives will never be
the same, they’ll never forget how much an open
door, a warm bed and comforting smiles meant to
them at a time when they needed them most.
“The Ronald McDonald House is far more than
a bed, a place for families to stay,” Erin explains.
“It really is a house for hope and healing when your
world is falling down.”
Summer today

Volunteer’s Spirit Lives on Through
Room Sponsorship
Ruthie Brunsman remembers
fellow volunteer Karen Braun
as a friend to laugh with, one of
the few people in her life she’s
met and instantly “clicked with,”
and the face she always looked
forward to seeing when she
walked into Cincinnati’s Ronald
McDonald House.
When Karen passed away of
liver cancer at age 57 in December
2009, Ruthie knew she wanted to
do something special to remember
her friend. Two years later, she
found that something special: She
adopted a room in Karen’s memory.
“For me, having a room named
after Karen is a constant reminder that
she’s here, that her memory lives on in
the House,” Ruthie says.
“For me, having a room named after
Karen is a constant reminder that
she’s here, that her memory lives on
in the House.”
By adopting a room in Karen’s
memory, Ruthie is not only doing
something special for Karen and her
family, but she’s also having a direct
impact on the lives of the families who
will live in her adopted room while
receiving life-saving medical treatment.
“Here we have felt like we belong,
and not alone on a deserted island.
Thank you for your support, care and
compassion during our time of need.
We are truly grateful!”
-Laura and Mike Mendelson, parents of
Megan
Room 81
Arlington Heights, Illinois
For $3,000, $5,000 or $10,000, you
can sponsor one of 78 rooms at our
House and provide all the comforts of
home to families who otherwise would
be forced to pay for expensive hotel
rooms, sleep in the hospital or even in
their cars.
Our children need your help.
Room sponsorships are a wonderful
birthday, anniversary, holiday or
memorial gift. A special plaque will
hang on the door of your adopted
room, recognizing your honoree.
To learn more about adopting a room,
please contact RMHC Development
Director Jill Miller at (513) 636-9679 or
jmiller@rmhouse.org.
To see more of Ruthie and Karen’s
story, please visit our website at
www.rmhcincinnati.org.
Summer 2011
Adopt a Room
2010-2011
Annual Room Sponsors
-continued
Lisa and Terry McLaughlin in loving
memory of Mitchell Ryan
Merrill Lynch Wealth Management
Messer Construction Company
Miami Trails Masters - Loveland, Ohio
The Students of Mount Notre Dame
High School
Nancy’s Hallmark and their generous
customers
Neat, Redpath and Spaeth Wealth
Management Group
In honor of their clients
Neyra Industries, Inc.
Steve & Becky Osborne Family
Oak Hills High School Class of 2010
Patheon Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
The Raymond & Anna Johnson
Foundation and The Family of
Alan S. Threlkeld
Larry Renner Family
The Robinson Family
Ronald McDonald House Staff
Ronald McDonald House Guest Services
Volunteers
Cathie and Rick Rothfuss
Maria Theresa Schaefer Donor Advised
Fund at the Rancho Santa Fe Foundation
Robert C. and Adele R. Schiff Foundation
Matt and Robin Sheakley
The Phillip Smith Foundation
The Students of Springdale Elementary
Supreme Master Ching Hai in honor of
Magnus Knudsen
George and Elizabeth Taliaferro
in honor of Mary
Toyota Financial Services
Turpin Hills and Mason Middle School
“Pay It Forward”
Valenti Salon & Spa Team and their
generous clients
Mike and Sandy Voge and Joseph and
Marti Otto
The Vontz Family
Waste Resource Management, Inc. in
honor of their clients and partners
Wood, Herron & Evans, LLP
The Craig Young Family Foundation
Although every attempt is made to accurately
report all of our donors, errors can occur. We
apologize for any misspellings or omissions.
Please contact Shirley Wuske at (513) 636-9304
or swuske@rmhouse.org with corrections.
23

4
Summer Edition
Share a Meal with Our
Families this Summer
Your kids are home from school, and
you’re enjoying more meals together as a
family. Why not bring your family and a
meal to share with our guest families?
Many of our families have told us that
they probably wouldn’t stop to eat if it wasn’t
for the home-cooked meals that volunteers
provide every day at our House. Between
worrying about their sick children and
coming to and from the hospital, cooking
is often the last thing on their minds. When
they return to the House and smell a warm
meal cooking in the kitchen, it’s sometimes
the brightest moment of their day.
Please consider donating a few hours
of your time with friends, family or
colleagues this summer and make a meal
for our families. It’s only a fraction of your
day, but it means the world to them. Visit
our website, www.rmhcincinnati.org, for
more information, or e-mail Lisa Davis,
our meals and activities coordinator, at
ldavis@rmhouse.org.
Please Grant a Wish During
Your Next Grocery Trip
The next time you’re weaving your
cart through the food aisles at your local
grocery store, toss in some fresh carrots or
bagged apples and our families will thank
you.
You can help us provide basic food and
storage items to our families this summer
by buying donations off our wish list on
your next shopping trip. Right now, we’re
most in need of fresh fruit and vegetables,
Ziploc bags, foil and plastic wrap, and any
sized Styrofoam and plastic containers. If
you prefer, you can send a donation of any
amount and we’ll buy the items for you.
Last year, your donated goods and
services contributed to 11% of our revenue,
so please help us continue to keep our doors
open and our closets and kitchens stocked.
To find a complete list of items on
our wish list, please visit our website,
www.rmhcincinnati.org.
In the Words of a Child
Cole is participating in our school program,
which is funded by The Carol Ann & Ralph V.
Haile, Jr./U.S. Bank Foundation. Thank you to
Tim Maloney, president and CEO, and Christine
Bochenek, vice president of operations and
senior program manager of human services
and U.S. Bank Legacy Initiatives, for making
this program possible.
“Our stay at the Ronald
McDonald House has been amazing.
The volunteers and staff have
helped us more than they will ever
know. The ability for our large family
to stay connected through all of
this has helped to keep our spirits
high and our love strong. We will take
our daughter home today and have
many memories to come, but we won’t
forget the memories that we have
made here!”
-Erin and Michael Moreno, parents of
Izabella
Room 43
Findlay, Ohio
Did You Know Our Mission
Began with a Little Girl
Named Kim Hill?
Kim Hill, whose leukemia diagnosis led
to the creation of the first Ronald McDonald
House, passed away this spring. Kim’s father,
former Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver
Fred Hill, helped organize a fundraiser that
earned $10,000 for the Leukemia Society
of America and led to the establishment
of the first Ronald McDonald House in
Philadelphia in 1974. We’ll never forget Kim,
who inspired hundreds of Ronald McDonald
Houses around the world.

Kids Helping Kids
Ronald and Renee tickle the ivories
More than 200 young pianists from the Tristate shared their talents at area
book and music stores earlier this year to raise more than $12,000 for our guest
families.
Thank you to all the children who played during the Piano Play-a-Thon, held
every other year since 1995, co-chairs Jessica Boone of Boone Piano Studio and
Katie Falcón-Davidson of Music Makers, and to the Music Teachers National
Association – Ohio’s Southwest district and Kentucky’s Northern district – for
sponsoring the event.
Hope, Home, Hugs
Students from Springdale Elementary raised $3,000
to adopt a room at our House this year.
We invite you to join us on the
red carpet for this year’s Red Tie
Gala, benefiting Cincinnati’s Ronald
McDonald House and presented by
PNC Bank.
Co-chairs MJ Guttman and Jessica
Levine are pulling out all the stops to
bring the glamour of old-Hollywood
film to this year’s event, held at 6
p.m., October 1, at the Hyatt Regency
Cincinnati.
Tickets to “Old Hollywood – A Red
Carpet Affair” are $150 for a seat or
$1,500 for a table. All proceeds benefit
the families living at Ronald McDonald
House.
To reserve your spot, please call
Carrie Schroder at (513) 636-5551,
e-mail her at cschroder@rmhouse.org
or visit www.redtiegala.org.
Welcome to Elise Hyder, our new director of volunteers.
Elise comes to us from
the Cincinnati Symphony
Orchestra, where she
worked as director of
group sales and audience
development. She lives
with her husband, Drew,
and their two children
in Bellevue, and she is
“thrilled and honored to
be part of an organization
that provides such
loving care and comfort
to children and their
families.”
Summer 2011
Red Tie Gala
Welcome, Elise!
If you’re interested in
volunteering at Ronald McDonald House, please contact Elise
at (513) 636-5586 or ehyder@rmhouse.org.
5

Because of you, our annual Golf
Classic at Kenwood Country Club was a
wonderful success.
The Golf Classic raised record-setting
gross revenues of $235,000, all of which
will go directly toward the care of our
guest families.
Thank you to our generous presenting
sponsor, Rough Greenhouses, and our
chairman, Paul Haffner of Great American
Insurance, for all his hard work. We’d also
like to extend a big “thank you” to Chris
Belletti of PNC Bank and his corporate
sponsorship team for spearheading an
effort that led to $146,700 in corporate
sponsorships, an increase of 52% from
last year.
6
Summer Edition
You don’t have to make a big effort to make a big difference in
the lives of sick children and their families. All it takes is collection
containers, a group of friends and a lot of enthusiasm!
By saving those pull tabs from soft drink cans, soup cans, pet
food cans or anything else you can find with a tab, you’ll be
raising much-needed funds for the children and families who call
Cincinnati’s Ronald McDonald House “home.”
Simply bring your tabs to the House and we’ll recycle them. Last
year, we recycled 25,634 pounds of pull tabs and raised $16,582!
Thank You for
Playing “Fore”
Charity!
Ronald and chairman Paul Haffner from
Great American Insurance
Ronald with event organizers Shawnie Dukes
and Carrie Schroder
“I would like to say ‘thank you’ for such a wonderful
experience. The RMH was truly more than I had expected.
The RMH made us feel like we were at home. The privacy,
the food and, above all, the wonderful activities for the
other children were a blessing. I just can’t say ‘thank
you’ enough.”
-Tammy Jones, mother of Blake
Room 35
West Liberty, Kentucky
Your support helps children like Brenna, Kasval and
Claire find a “home away from home.”
Ronald with Patrick Long, Dave Roberts,
Rich Reilly and Kevin Caron of Rough
Greenhouses

Thank
You
from our Executive Director
Dear Friends:
It’s now been 13 years since I first walked
through the doors of Cincinnati’s Ronald
McDonald House as executive director. During
that time, thousands of families have come and
gone, all of them with hope in their hearts and
a story to tell.
The story of a family who lived with us recently affected me significantly,
both as a staff member and as a mother.
For the first 13 years of his life, Logan Prickett was a healthy boy growing up
in Montgomery, Ala. One September day in 2008, Logan and his mother,
Tammy, drove to an outpatient center for a routine MRI to try to determine
the cause of his small stature. A nurse injected Logan with dye and began
rolling him into the MRI machine when Logan started protesting that
he couldn’t breathe. It turned out that he had suffered a severe allergic
reaction to the dye and went into full cardiac and respiratory arrest. He
slipped into unconsciousness and his heart stopped beating.
Doctors were able to make his heart start again, but Logan was in a coma
for 12 days, and, because of the amount of brain damage he suffered, is
now blind, confined primarily to a wheelchair and has limited physical
function. But he can smile, stick out his hand to shake and strum a guitar.
He loves to listen to audio books, especially historical fiction, and he still
makes A’s and B’s in school. And, he’s always amazingly upbeat.
This May, for Logan’s 16th birthday, Tammy gave her son a pool party
because it was “all he wanted.” As Tammy says, “There’s not a lot he asks
for, so I’m going to try to give him that. You love your child. You’ll go to the
ends of the earth to do whatever they need.”
Without donors like you, we couldn’t care for families like Logan’s, whose
lives change in the blink of an eye. These families are far from home and
need a place to live and find love and support while their children are
receiving life-saving medical treatment.
Logan’s family is one of over 1,000 families we’ll serve this year. Please
know that it’s because of your support that we’re able to help families like
his focus fully on their children. Thank you for helping to make our House
a true “home away from home.”
Fondly,
Jennifer Goodin
Executive Director
“It was easy. I needed to write my will, and my
attorney asked which charities were important
to me. It was natural to include Cincinnati’s
Ronald McDonald House,” says Barbie Stern,
who was recently honored at the 13th Annual
Voices of Giving Awards for her bequest to Ronald
McDonald House Charities of Greater Cincinnati.
Summer 2011
Giving the Gift of Life
Always a generous supporter, Barbie’s
relationship with the House took on new
meaning in 2000, when Molly, her close friend from
Ithaca, N.Y., learned her daughter, Ali, was in need of a liver transplant and
was referred to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.
At the time, Molly and her family knew no one in Cincinnati but Barbie.
They were familiar with Ronald McDonald House Charities, in general, but
it wasn’t until Barbie introduced them to Jennifer Goodin, our executive
director, that everything became much easier. Because they were able to use
the House as their “home away from home,” Molly and her family had a place
to rest, home-cooked meals and people to talk to who were going through
similar ordeals.
Thankfully, Ali received the life-saving transplant she needed. Today,
she’s a happy, healthy college student who celebrates both her birthday and
“re-birthday” each year.
No matter where you see yourself financially, you, too, can
make a lasting difference. By choosing to include Ronald
McDonald House Charities of Greater Cincinnati as a
beneficiary of your will, life insurance policy or retirement
plan, you can help make sure that our House will be here to
care for families for generations to come.
Once she was able to witness first-hand what the House means for families,
Barbie began to see the bequest she had made in a different light. “What if
you were in their shoes but didn’t know a soul in Cincinnati?” she says. “At
Ronald McDonald House, no family is ever alone – they are always cared for,
and they have a unique support network of families who know what they are
going through.”
Barbie is one of 16 recipients of this year’s Voices of Giving Award,
recognizing Greater Cincinnatians who have chosen to make a bequest or
planned gift to ensure the long-term stability of their favorite charitable
organizations.
No matter where you see yourself financially, you, too, can make a lasting
difference. By choosing to include Ronald McDonald House Charities
of Greater Cincinnati as a beneficiary of your will, life insurance policy or
retirement plan, you can help make sure that our House will be here to care
for families for generations to come.
For more information, please contact Director of Planned Giving Tracy
Monroe at (513) 636-9703 or tmonroe@rmhouse.org.
7

Ronald McDonald
House Charities
OF GREATER CINCINNATI
350 Erkenbrecher Avenue
Cincinnati, OH 45229
Phone: 513.636.7642
Fax: 513.636.4887
Email: sdukes@rmhouse.org
www.rmhcincinnati.org
NONPROFIT
U.S.POSTAGE
PAID
Cincinnati, OH
Permit No. 9772
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Shawnie Dukes at sdukes@rmhouse.org or 513-636-7642. Thank you!
Save the Date
Oct. 1 - Red Tie Gala
Nov. 24 - Thanksgiving Day Race
Dec. 5 - Share a Night Lighting Ceremony
For more information, please visit our
website at www.rmhcincinnati.org or contact
RMHC Events Manager Carrie Schroder at
cschroder@rmhouse.org or (513) 636-5551.
visit our website at
www.rmhcincinnati.org