Ronald McDonald House reveals model for construction

Not one to arrive fashionably late, little Mollee Myers, made her debut into the world last August at Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola.
In fact, at 2 pounds and 3 ounces, Mollee was two-and-a-half months premature. The first six weeks of her existence were spent in the neonatal intensive care unit at the hospital.

For mother Rebecca Myers, Mollee’s condition meant that life would be temporarily interrupted while Mollee got better.

“With the price of gas, there was no way we could go back and forth,” Myers, says of the 150 mile round-trip commute that they would have to make from their home in DeFuniak Springs.

With the help of the Ronald McDonald House located next to the hospital, that scenario drastically changed. Myers, who also had a one year-old son, Olin, at the time, was given the chance to be by Mollee’s side everyday.

“I was there four times a day to see her during the visitation times,” Myers told The Log.

Her stay at the Ronald McDonald House made this possible.

“Daily life with Olin was still doable, so it was a major blessing,” she says.

Mollee is now a happy and healthy 14 pounds and the Myers family is grateful that they were able to spend six weeks at the Ronald McDonald House as Mollee recovered.

Not all families are so lucky though. Thousands the Myers’ situation have had to be turned away, due to lack of space.
With only nine rooms available at the currently standing Ronald McDonald House and a waiting list that never seems to shorten, the foundation knew it was time for a change.

On Thursday, the Ronald McDonald house held a campaign kick-off at Colonial Bank to reveal a miniature model of the proposed new 26-bedroom Ronald McDonald House to be built in Pensacola.

The event, pulled together by Amy Parrish, vice president of wealth management for Colonial Bank, featured a food and beverage social and silent auction to get the ball rolling on raising funds for the $5 million project.

Numerous local businesses donated items and packages for the auction.

The foundation hopes to raise $1.25 million in Okaloosa and Walton counties alone.

Nancy Grigsby, a former guest and the Okaloosa/Walton Pacesetter Chair for Ronald McDonald House, explains why residents in Okaloosa, Walton and Bay counties should give to build the house in Pensacola.

“It’s right for us to raise it [money], because we are the ones that are going to use it,” Grigsby says.