When a child becomes seriously ill, many times families in Northeast Wisconsin are forced to travel to Children's Hospital in Milwaukee for treatment, and often that can mean weeks, even months away from home.
Thankfully, there's a low cost housing option you can take advantage of that does much more than provide a roof over your head.
When Bo Johnson was 12-years-old, a rare form of AML leukemia reared its ugly head.
"He had a 105 temperature. He couldn't move an inch of his body. If you touched him, he would just scream. I thought he was going to die," explained Bo's mom, Annika.
She knew they'd have to leave Door County to find the best care which was two and a half hours away.
"If you had eight months of treatment or two years, what are you supposed to do? Are you supposed to get a hotel room for four months?"
Bo's nurses told them about the Ronald McDonald House. It's a home away from home that's just $20 a night, but free if you can't afford it.
"I thought only certain people could stay at the Ronald McDonald House like that were poor or don't have anything, no insurance, no nothing, so I could never stay there because I'm always considered middle class."
But Annika and Bo spent about a hundred days there. It not only saved them money, it gave Bo a badly needed break from the hospital.
"He just needed his own space. He needed privacy. He wanted me to leave," she explained. "He wanted to just be able to get up and walk around, eat something different. He could go in the kitchen and cook."
The house also provides dog therapy, art and music therapy, family garden education, a magic room filled with toys and books, and free passes to the Milwaukee County Zoo. They're activities that provide healing, hope and a sense of normalcy during a frightening and emotional time.
"You see all those bald kids, and it's like I feel so sorry for you, and they don't want you to. You know they just want to be kids."
To continue helping families, local McDonald's restaurants are holding a giving tree fundraiser to collect non-perishable items to stock the house.
"I hope it helps them get a start to the end of this year and start to the next year. Everything helps the cause with it," said Brock Vandeden, General Manager of a Green Bay area McDonald's.
They're looking for donations of ramen noodles, peanut butter and Kleenex just to name a few.
"The list that they're asking for is so simple," said Annika.
She says it's an easy way to give during the holidays to support a great cause, because just like her, you never know when you may need to lean on it.
41% of families served at the Ronald McDonald House come from Northeast Wisconsin.
You can donate food and toiletry items through Saturday, December 12th.
Although Bo ultimately lost his battle with cancer, Annika says she and the employees at her Sister Bay restaurant still visit the Ronald McDonald House to cook meals for the families staying there, as a way to say thank you.
