Rochelle Greenwald, vice president of the Northwest Suburban Interfaith Council, recently shared her experience of how a health crisis within her own family turned into a beautiful story of sharing and giving with others.
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Greenwald first explained how her 3-year-old daughter had open heart surgery in 1980 at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago.
“It was a catastrophic happening to our family. … We were so scared. Thankfully, we had our longtime friends and family, and wonderful community to support us,” Greenwald said. “Blood donors were there, and our doctor did an amazing miracle on our daughter. She was in the ICU for a few nights so we could not sleep with her, just visit her. She was so tiny and hooked up to so much.”
Greenwald said the waiting room at the time was all the family had.
“Then, a nurse said that she had a place for us to stay until she was released from the ICU unit. It was the Ronald McDonald House (RMH) on Deming Place,” she said. “I never heard of it but was a few blocks from the hospital, and a shuttle was available to bring us back to the hospital we wanted. It was an 18-bedroom mansion and they were expecting us there.
“Our room was clean and cozy, and we were so thankful to sleep even for a couple of hours. We stayed there for two nights, and my husband Neal stayed an additional night because I was able to sleep by my daughter’s crib on the third night. Upon leaving the house, you are asked to leave all of the linens clean — the way you found them. We did that and then decided that we have to do something for this house that was built with love.”
Greenwald explained they developed a plan to give back to the volunteers at the house.
“Being of the Jewish faith and having a Christian family that celebrates Christmas dinner, we had our plan. We felt that the Christian volunteers at the house should be off on Christmas Day. So, 28 years ago, our special day began,” she said. “Some friends of ours joined us there, and we cooked lunch in their kitchen, brought toys, desserts and played games but mostly listened to the peoples’ fears and anxieties.
“Eventually, RMH moved to a beautiful new location at 211 E. Grand St. in Chicago. Every year, more and more volunteers wanted to participate in this day of joy, and our family at Congregation Beth Am was eager to help through their service and donations. Also, the Northwest Suburban Interfaith Council gave us a check this year to purchase special books for the library at RMH.”
This past Christmas, Greenwald, along with 30 volunteers, brought more than 1,000 books to be placed under one Christmas tree and more than 500 gifts to be placed under another tree.
Because Hanukkah fell over Christmas, they lit the menorah as well. In past years, Greenwald arranged to provide lunch to the house through a restaurant in the city.
But this year, the restaurant notified them three days before the holiday that the price had doubled. In past years, the donations received paid not only for the lunch, but for books, games, art supplies and other materials.
To provide lunch for all of the families this year, she couldn’t cover the cost of everything.
Greenwald didn’t know what to do, so she called her friend Thad, who is a manager at the Mariano’s grocery store in Buffalo Grove for advice.
“Mariano’s saved the day!” Greenwald said. “The grocery store worked with us and our budget to provide enough food to cover 66 families for two lunches. The store also donated all of the bread and desserts on Christmas Eve — not too many places would do this for us.”
Greenwald wants to recognize the extraordinary generosity of Mariano’s, along with all of her friends and family who volunteer at the Ronald McDonald House on Christmas.
“I always tell our volunteers that we are there not only for the food and gifts, but to visit with each family,” she said. “To listen, give them courage, hope and love. I hope and pray to be there for my 29th year next Christmas.”
Information about the Ronald McDonald House is available at www.rmhc.org or by contacting Mark Houger at 312-888-2500.
Aileen Simons is a freelance columnist for Pioneer Press. Reach her at [email protected].
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