About 25 years ago, Tim Hillebrand, co-owner of Don’s Appliances, participated in his first Big Mac Classic, a golf outing fundraiser to benefit Ronald McDonald House Charities. Since that time, the company has continued to support the organization in multiple ways.
“It’s a great cause; we take care of them in any way that we can,” says Hillebrand. In fact, their buying group, Brand Source, is a national sponsor of Ronald McDonald House Charities and has supported the charity over the years with appliances and donations.
A charitable mission
A nonprofit, the mission of Ronald McDonald House Charities is to provide a place for families to stay when they are seeking medical care for their children. Founded in 1974 in Philadelphia, there are now 368 charities worldwide, explains Eleanor Reigel, who serves as executive director for Ronald McDonald House Charities of Pittsburgh and Morgantown.
The Pittsburgh-based Ronald McDonald House, celebrating its 40-year anniversary this year, maintains 74 apartments for families; they’ve been in their current space in the Bloomfield neighborhood for the past decade. All families are granted full access to a well-equipped large kitchen, which includes a pantry stocked with such staples as pasta and peanut butter, a milk machine and a cereal bar, as well as two ovens supplied by Don’s Appliances.
Families can utilize the kitchen to make meals for themselves, which also includes a commercial coffeemaker, refrigerator, and microwave. But on an almost daily basis, volunteers from the community gather onsite in the spacious kitchen to cook meals for the families as part of what Reigel calls “…a robust meal program.”
“This is a program that is very well-liked and utilized— having a sick child, you don’t think about yourself, as you’re focused on your child’s wellbeing but you also have to maintain your own health and a good diet and make sure you have the nutrition you need. We feel the meal program is very important from that perspective,” says Reigel.
Reigel says that the Pittsburgh and Morgantown Ronald McDonald Houses rely upon community support from individuals and businesses, which donate both time and money to the nonprofit. Although they have other programs, such as the Care Mobile that offers preventative pediatric care around the city and suburbs, maintaining the kitchen is important goal for the organization. “We’re always looking at making it better and how we can improve it for the families and volunteers who use it,” says Reigel.
The perfect partnership
Because they believe in the cause, Don’s Appliances and Ronald McDonald House Charities of Pittsburgh have cultivated a good relationship over the years, with Don’s regularly supporting the charity with fundraising events. Several years ago, for example, Don’s arranged to take some families who were staying at the Pittsburgh Ronald McDonald House to a private skate with several Pittsburgh Penguins. Don’s Appliances has also sponsored the local nonprofit’s annual Red Shoe Ball on several occasions. The next event to benefit the charity will be held this fall, at which point Don’s will team up with one of its vendors for an event that will include a silent auction and raffles. It is part of Don’s Appliances company culture to get involved in charitable causes. “We’re very fortunate. We’re all healthy, our kids are all healthy, our business has grown, and our parents have always given back; we’re doing the same thing moving forward,” says Hillebrand.