Ronald McDonald House raises $326,000 in 22 minutes.
Virtual luncheon donors raise $326,000 in 22 minutes
One year is all it took for Shane Kimzey to advance from host committee member to co-chair of Ronald McDonald House Houston’s annual Spirit of Hope Luncheon.
His former boss introduced Kimzey, CenterPoint Energy’s deputy general counsel, to the nonprofit, which provides temporary housing for the families of children undergoing treatment in the Texas Medical Center.
“My wife had colon cancer and got treated at MD Anderson,” Kimzey said. “We live four miles away from the world’s best hospitals, but most people don’t. Ronald McDonald House is such a tremendous organization for families who really need it, and who could argue with supporting that?”
His hunch was spot-on. On May 6, the Spirit of Hope Luncheon’s original date, some 670 supporters tuned in for a re-imagined, virtual event. The program lasted just 22 minutes and raised more than $326,000 — 93 percent of Ronald McDonald House Houston’s initial $350,000 goal.
“I was surprised how many people bothered to tune in,” Kimzey said. “It was short, sweet and highly digestible.”
Highlights from the streaming video included a conversation between Cole Dawson, leukemia survivor and heart transplant recipient, and Fox26 anchor Melissa Wilson, whose son Caleb is a fellow leukemia survivor. The pair discussed the complications and the added anxiety of dealing with COVID-19 in conjunction with pediatric cancer diagnoses.
“Keeping the facility clean right now is a big expense,” said Diana Lewis, stewardship manager of Ronald McDonald House Houston. “Funds raised also help us maintain our core services we provide to the families who are staying with us: free transportation, food, housing and laundry.”
In-house programming ensures that client families are distracted and have fun as well, she added.
Ronald McDonald House has 70 rooms, which can each sleep four people.
“We’re operating on a skeleton staff to make sure that the number of people in and out of the building is extremely limited,” said Lisa Estes, the House’s chief advancement officer. “A lot of these kids, their immune systems are highly compromised.”
Two familiar faces around the facility include
Nanci Allen and Cordell Lindsey, both of whom made cameos in the Spirit of Hope Luncheon’s virtual program. They’ve been with Ronald McDonald House for 23 years and six years, respectively.
For a month leading up to the luncheon, the organization’s Text-To-Give campaign raised $47,920 from 180 donors. Additionally, five supporters also launched a Peer-to-Peer letter-writing campaign that brought in more than $25,000.
“We came up with this grassroots approach to cast our net more broadly and reach smaller-dollar donors,” Kimzey said. One participant, Lesha Elsenbrook, raised nearly $10,000 by asking for donations in lieu of birthday presents. “We emailed folks around the country, not just the normal Houston business crowd.”
For now, Ronald McDonald House Houston’s fall gala, a Monte Carlo-themed event slated for Nov. 19 at the Corinthian, is still on the books. Though after the success of the Spirit of Hope Luncheon, Lewis is working on a virtual back-up, just in case. “We feel good and are trying to be optimistic, while also constructing plan B,” she said.