Ronald McDonald House gets makeover
Stay tuned for a McMakeover.
The Ronald McDonald House in Fort Lauderdale is getting shiny mosaic tiles, sleek granite countertops, fresh coats of paint and other new features, courtesy of “Operation Build,” a home improvement TV series that airs on the History Channel.
About 30 crew members and volunteers have been shooting there since June 7 for a four-part miniseries titled “Labor of Love,” which is scheduled to debut at 7:30 a.m. Aug. 22. The charity house provides a temporary home for families of young patients with severe illnesses.
“We get to give away something to people who are giving so much to the community,” said Alexi Panos, the show’s host, as she took a break from wallpapering the dining room on a recent Thursday. “We are giving them a fresh new look so that families, when they come here, have a space that feels like home.”
Except for the life-sized, grinning Ronald McDonald figure sitting on a bench at the home’s entrance, the threestory, mustard-colored residential complex looks like any other in South Florida. It has16 guest bedrooms that can fit four people, a common kitchen and dining area, a laundry room, a family and play room, and an administrative office.
The crew started with the kitchen and dining room.
“We wanted to go with something light, fun and bright,” said Alena Capra, the
show’s co-host and lead designer, as workers painted walls in soft blues and greens and added whimsical shapes such as bubbles. “We want it to feel like a happy place, a place where they can relax after a long day and a place where they can have a nice meal with the family.”
The inspiration for the Ronald McDonald House episodes came from the Lake Worth family of 17-year-old Shiloh Beck. During treatments for lymphoma, his family stayed at other Ronald McDonald homes in Miami and Durham, N.C.
Christopher Goldstein, a senior producer at “Operation Build” who had befriended the family during past South Florida charity events, asked them how he could help. The family insisted the show focus on helping the Ronald McDonald House, in one way or another, because they are so grateful to the charity.
“Everybody in that house (the organization) needs help. Some kids are worse than Shiloh … Maybe these people need something,” said Cheryl Scott, Shiloh’s grandmother.
The producers learned the Fort Lauderdale location, which opened in 2004 down the street from Broward Health Medical Center, needed updating.
“Each house has a story,’’ Goldstein said. “What they do is absolutely incredible.”
The show is produced nearby, in Coconut Creek, by Insight Television Productions. For the past two seasons, Panos and a team of designers have traveled around the country renovating homes. Last season, the crew spent three episodes rebuilding the homes of three military veterans. They’ve also remodeled rooms and garages of people whose homes were affected by floods and fires.
After finishing up last week, the crew will be back at the Ronald McDonald House in July to continue with the administrative office and bedrooms.
“This is such an exciting project. They are like a godsend, I would have to say,” said Soraya Rivera-Moya, executive director of the Ronald McDonald House Charities of South Florida, which runs the two homes in Fort Lauderdale and Miami. Both are open to the families of any patient receiving treatment at any Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade county pediatric hospital.
“We are so grateful for ‘Operation Build’ and all the vendors involved for their support for this special project … this is a labor of love.”