Have you ever wanted to see the inside of the Ronald McDonald House in Oak Lawn Illinois ? Let me tell you a little about the Ronald McDonald House before we go in

The house opened on December 15 ,2008, and it cost approximately 7 millions dollars, it is 24,000 sq ft., and has 16 individual rooms ( the rooms are like a high-end hotel room,).On the first floor is a huge kitchen , dining room, library, a meeting room for local business and hospital gatherings ,a computer space, 2 seperate quarters where the residence live, laundry room on each floor, 3 family rooms, 3 game rooms, and an outdoor patio with a BBQ gril,

It is called , "The House In The Woods",  because as you walk towards the house  you can hear running waters from the ponds, and as you can see,  the front of the house greets you with huge trees, prairie grass, wild flowers, and various plants , literally you would think you were in the woods.

Each house has its own unique design, and at the present time there are currently 280 Ronald Mc Donald Houses around the world. The purpose of the house is to provide a "Home away from Home" atmosphere for the family's of Hope Children's Hospital in Oak Lawn Illinois, which is directly across the street. So instead of family's having to sleep in waiting rooms or cold motels for days, and in some cases months , they have their own private room, with homemade meals, and if they want to share with others they can .

  When you enter the house their is a beautiful staircase that takes you to the 2ND and 3rd floors, where there are 16 individual rooms that have been decorated after the 4 seasons :Winter, Spring,Summer and Fall. Each room has its own bathroom and shower, some rooms are larger , and include a bedroom with a sitting room that has a pull-our sofa, for siblings, Grandparents, and family members.

  I have the privilege of volunteering at the the Ronald McDonald House in Oak Lawn Illinois on Tuesday's, my main position is the receptionist. Some of my duties are to answer the phone, greet the family's , except shipments from many donors, stock the kitchen, clean out the refrigerators, load and unload dishwashers, help tear down rooms when family's leave the house ,water outside plants , and whatever needs to be done.

As you can see this is the kitchen and dining room, they have a program called "Meals from the Heart", which individual groups sign up and offer to cook for the family;s. I have seen tremendous meals prepared for the family's like: BBQ Ribs, Chinese food, Meatloaf with all trimmings, Mexican Buffets, Spaghetti and Sausage and Peppers .., Can you believe I have been at the Ronald McDonald house for almost 1 year and their hasn't been an evening with out a meal! Thanks to all the volunteers and donors.

So Where does Ronald McDonald come in?

Mc Donald's does not own the house , The Ronald McDonald House in Oak Lawn is a independent 501(c) non-profit that has aboard of directors which governs it, but McDonald's generously donates to the houses through varies programs like the canister program, and Happy Meals just to name a few.

 To keep the  house running smoothly their are 3 paid staff individuals who are perfect for the job, the house manager is  Kelly Evens,and 2 assistants, Katie Allabough, and Lindsay Hickey, also 3 residents who live at the house 24/7.

If the family's can afford it, they are asked to donate 10.00 per night, but if they cant afford the 10.00,  the fee is waived, also the family has to live at least 10 miles from Hope Children's Hospital in Oak Lawn  in order to stay at the house, they don't take reservations ahead of time, if  there's room at the time of your family's need you ll have an opportunity to benefit from the Ronald McDonald House. I have met family's that come in from New York, Indiana, South Carolina and other locations to stay at the house while their loved one is in the hospital.

Here's a  few suggestions that you can do to help the Ronald McDonald House in Oak lawn;

1. You can save pop tabs.

2. You can call the house and sign up to cook a meal with your friends or family's.

3. you can buy a few Happy Meals

     this is just a few, but if you want more information about volunteering on the Ronald McDonald House in Oak Lawn,

      please call : 708.423.5285

The Ronald McDonald House is in Oak lawn Illinois which is a suburb about 45 minutes from Chicago.Some of the communities that surround Oak Lawn are  Hickory Hills, Chicago Ridge, Evergreen Park,Burbank, Palos Heights,and Worth. The  population of Oak Lawn is approximately  53,777. At the present time their are currently :

256 -- single family houses on the market, prices ranging from 76,900---559,000

371  --Townhouses or Condos, prices ranging from 40,000--320,000.

  8  --- businesses for sale or rent, such as Grocery store, Gas station, Offices, Bar or Restaurants

 19 --  parcels of land starting from 25,000

If you need to sell your house, or would like information about short sales, you can call me at 708.945.2178 or e-mail me at homesleuth1@aol.com. If you would like me to email you listings please contact me.

thank- you for taking your time and learning about the Ronald McDonald House in Oak Lawn Illinois.

Brenda Kasprzyk

Century 21

708.945.2178

fax 708.448.3960

homesleuth1@aol.com