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Our featured volunteer station for May is the Ronald McDonald House at 1212 Indiana in Lubbock. Each year hundreds of children, ages newborn to 18, suffering from serious illnesses such as birth defects, trauma, cancer and heart disease receive critical medical care in Lubbock hospitals and clinics. These young patients and their families often travel long distances to receive the specialized care they require. In-hospital treatment may last one day or one year, or even longer. For the families of these children, accommodations can be hard to come by; options are often limited to costly hotels or unforgiving hospital chairs and benches. The Ronald McDonald House is a “home-away-from-home” for these families. It provides them with a place to stay, as well as a place to relax and cook the kind of meals their families like. More importantly, the House is a place where families can gain the support of one another as they cope with the emotional stress that accompanies the serious illness of a child. In return, families are asked to make a donation of only $10 per day. However, if that isn’t possible, families will never be turned away.

Since the first house opened in Philadelphia, PA in 1974, the program has helped more than 10 million families. The Lubbock House is one of 212 Ronald McDonald Houses located in 20 countries. The Ronald McDonald Houses are supported by nearly 25,000 volunteers who donate one million hours of their time annually. There are so many ways to help families during such crises in their lives. Your or your group could provide a meals for the families, bring baked goods to be enjoyed by the families, come to the House and do the daily chores for the families to give them a day off, bring your aluminum cans to their recycling trailers at Lowe’s Market Place locations, or have a fundraiser to benefit the House. It would be most appreciated if you would choose to become a regular volunteer at the House. You could share a few hours of your week on a regular schedule working in the office, helping with housekeeping chores, or driving the vans—truly, helping to make the House a home. 

OTHER VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES:

LUBBOCK ARTS ALLIANCE, 2109 Broadway, would love volunteers to help in various areas during the Lubbock Arts Festival, May 17-19, at the Civic Center. You would be appreciated in the Artist Hospitality Area (putting out food and beverages for the artists), the Information Booth, the Ticket Booth, and at the on-site office answering the phones. You would be working in a very interesting area for a day or two, so think about this short-term job opportunity!

TEXAS TECH MUSEUM VATICAN FRESCOES EXHIBIT will be using volunteers in many different areas during the exhibit’s display times in June, July, August and September. The “Medieval Frescoes from the Vatican Museums’ Collections” will have volunteers to greet visitors, give directions, assist in the cloakroom and snack bar, hand out flyers, help visitors with listening devices for the audio tour, and much more. All-day training sessions will be held on May 4th, May 8th, or May 25th. If you are interested, please contact Lee Brodie, Curator of Education at the Museum, 742-2432.

HOW do I join RSVP?
Becoming a member of RSVP is simple as long as you are at least 55 and have some time to volunteer. Just call the office at 742-2423 and chat with Ronda Casey or Bonne Phillips about your interests. If you are not certain what you would like to do, we can mention several current volunteer opportunities and send you a list of the sort of jobs which RSVP members are presently doing to whet your appetite. If you have a special skill or talent that you would like to utilize, we will search to find just the right job for you. Just mail in the enrollment form (requires Adobe Reader) and we will call you!