Ronald McDonald House fundraising kicks off at Hesperia Airport

HESPERIA — The representatives of Ronald McDonald House Charities, Loma Linda, chose a unique location to make a special announcement regarding the future of its existing facility.

Dignitaries and community leaders gathered at the Hesperia Airport on Thursday as the nonprofit announced that the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians and the McDonald’s Operators’ Association of Southern California’s made major financial contributions toward a multi-million dollar expansion project for the Loma Linda facility.

Mike Kovack, executive director for the Loma Linda house, displayed a check from San Manuel for $5.6 million and one from the McDonald’s Operators for $1.25 million. Kovack said both financial gifts will ensure that the program is able to break ground on its $12 million project in September. Once completed, the facility will expand from 21 rooms to 54 with a goal of supporting more families in their time of need.

“We chose to have the presentation at the airport because the work of the Ronald McDonald House starts here — the home of Mercy Air,” Kovack told the Daily Press. “Children are transported from here via Mercy Air helicopter and are taken straight to Loma Linda for medical treatment.”

Kovack also revealed that nearly 50 percent of all families who stay at the Loma Linda House are from the High Desert area, including Veronica Lopez, 39, and her family who once stayed at the facility.

Holding her 4-year old son Sebastian, Lopez told the audience that Sebastian was diagnosed in the womb with a partially developed heart. Doctors told Lopez that her son would probably not survive.

Lopez said after she chose to carry Sebastian, her son was born and endured four open heart surgeries, which forced the family to spend much of their time in Loma Linda.

“The Ronald McDonald House was there for us with a safe place to stay,” Lopez said. “Besides providing meals and daily necessities, they prayed and cried with us.”

Sebastian’s brother, Jesus Jr., 19, told the audience he thought nobody understood the emotional pain that he was enduring until he stayed at the Loma Linda house.

“There were people my age at the house going through the same thing, so they really understood,” Jesus Jr. said. “I have so much praise for the Ronald McDonald House and for those that help them do what they do. They are truly a blessing.”

Jay Brand, a board member of the RM House and construction chair of the project, told those gathered that the fundraising effort is “no longer a quiet campaign.”

“We’ve reached 73 percent of our financial goal for the project, but this is not just a home in Loma Linda,” Brand said. “With over half of our families from here, the Ronald McDonald House is your house.”

For the last decade, the Loma Linda RM House has operated at nearly 150 percent above capacity, housing over 1,000 families a year with the charity placing many families in nearby hotels, Brand said.

“It was either running a hotel program or accommodating our families in a place that they can relax and call home,” Brand said. “Hotels are great, but there is no place like home where people are like family.”

Rocky Allen, regional business manager for Mercy Air, said after experiencing the hospitality of the RM House in Germany, he jumped at the opportunity to host the event.

Allen, a former helicopter pilot for the U.S. Army, said he stayed at a RM House in Germany while visiting a friend who was injured in the Middle East while serving in the military.

“The Ronald McDonald House was one of the most caring places that I’ve ever visited. It’s first class with them all the way,” Allen said. “When I heard about this event, my heart was already connected to it.”

Brittany and Chandler Brown, college scholarship recipients from the RMHC Southern California, were at the event along with Hesperia Mayor Eric Schmidt and representatives from First District Supervisor Robert Lovingood, state Sen. Sharon Runner and other local groups.

For more information, or to make a donation to the RM House, visit www.rmhcsc.org/lomalinda or call 909-558-8300