Bingo Night

Once a night ALSAC employees host Bingo night at the Ronald McDonald House, one of our long-term stay facilities for patients at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. March was assigned to my department and we had a group go over for an evening of fun! We had lots of families attend with kids ranging from infant to 16 years old. Many were from out of town and were here for treatment for check ups. The Ronald McDonald House is for patients staying more than a week but less than a month.  St. Jude purchased this Ronald McDonald House so that our patients, most of whom have compromised or supressed immune systems would not be around typical sick children. Our children's hospital in Memphis, has the FedEx house for their patients. This is a nice way to keep the patients away from germs that can make their treatment even more difficult. We brought over 50 prizes for the evening and had just a few left at the end of the night. The kids had such a great time and our department loved giving back. I don't have any pictures of the patients because we respected their privacy and their fun time. Just wanted them to have a great time!! One little boy was so sad that someone had taken the Monopoly game when he won so we took a quick trip over to our toy room and got him the game. He was thrilled. One other mom told us that her child had been sad and had not smiled all day until he won Bingo. Love that we were able to bring a bit of sunshine to their evening and their stay in Memphis.

If anyone needs a volunteer opportunity locally, there are always activities at the Ronald McDonald House or the Target House that is an extended stay facility for our patients. Volunteers are always needed so give them a call. It might just brighten your day too!

james, our bingo number/letter caller for the night...he kept them entertained!

some folks from the finance/administration team

the prize table where i was stationed for the night. love watching the kids make that tough choice of what prize they want to take home. some were even sweet when they won more than once to select a toy for their sibling!