Three Degree Guarantee: Atlanta Ronald McDonald House Charities

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - Each month, Atlanta News First donates to a local nonprofit doing good in the community. The amount of money we donate depends on the accuracy of the First Alert Weather Team. Our sponsors at CoolRay match our donation. This month, Atlanta News First is highlighting the work of Atlanta Ronald McDonald House Charities.

Gracie Ring has been through a lot in her nine years of life.

“She has been sick since she was born, unfortunately. She has been hospitalized many times,” said Sarah Ring, Gracie’s mom, “It is called ARFID, Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder. It is a phobia-based eating disorder, each child has a different reason for their phobia.”

Gracie said she still gets scared going to the doctor sometimes but stays brave through treatments by distracting herself. But Atlanta Ronald McDonald House Charities, she gets to be a kid.

“Our first round, we didn’t have the Ronald McDonald House. So we spent a lot of money out of pocket. Stayed in a really dangerous area and it did not work out very well. So we are redoing this,” Sarah said. “Before we were having to do GoFundMe and having to try and figure out what we were going to eat that night and spending so much money that we couldn’t pay our mortgage.”

Ronald McDonald House Charities is a safe haven for families traveling further than 50 miles away, whose children are enduring illness, disease or injury.

“When you have a sick child, nothing else in the world matters. You want to be by their side. So we give families a place to stay when they have a sick or injured child to keep that family unit together and honestly, some families wouldn’t be able to travel to get that care without us,” said Tracey Atwater, CEO and president of Atlanta Ronald McDonald House Charities.

The house is entirely funded through donations. Volunteers help run the place. Families stay for free, have warm meals and have transportation to the hospital. They get to be around other families whose lengthy stays at the hospital have become normal too.

“People laugh because we call this home. Everyone is like, ‘Oh you are going back to Clarksville,’ and we are like, ‘No, we are going back to the Ronald McDonald House,’” said Ring.

There is a lot going on in the kids’ lives. Despite the ways illness and injury are coloring their childhoods, there is a place for them at Atlanta Ronald McDonald House of Charities to play and to be kids.