By Laura Thornton
It was a night to remember: a “Family Feud” face-off between kids staying in Kennedy Krieger Institute’s rehabilitation hospital and kids—along with their siblings—staying just a few blocks away at the Ronald McDonald House in Baltimore. Adrenaline levels ran high as hands hovered over make-pretend buzzers, poised to win.
But it was all in good fun. “The kids had an absolute blast,” says Elisa Delia, the Institute’s vice president and chief of staff and strategic initiatives, who came up with the idea after talking one evening with Liam, 7, a patient of Kennedy Krieger staying at the Ronald McDonald House with his family.
“He told me his dream was to be on ‘Family Feud,’ so of course we had to make that happen for him,” says Delia, who is also a board member for Ronald McDonald House Charities® Maryland, the nonprofit organization that runs the Ronald McDonald House in Baltimore.
As the icing on the cake, Liam’s team won. “But we will have a rematch,” Delia says. “It was just too much fun to not do again!”
A History of Support
Ronald McDonald House Charities Maryland opened Maryland’s only Ronald McDonald House in 1982 to provide a home away from home for families with children receiving medical care at Baltimore-area hospitals. In 2019, it moved to its current location, a few blocks from Kennedy Krieger. It’s a stunningly beautiful space, bathed in natural light, with 55 hotel-style rooms, plus family living and dining rooms, teen and game rooms, lots of informal gathering spaces, and more. It serves about 2,400 families a year.
“It’s such a relief for families to stay there,” says Alexis Bruce, the Institute’s inpatient social work manager. “It takes the financial burden off families by offering meals, a comfortable room and a community of support.”
We wrap our arms around this partnership and embrace it.” – Elisa Delia
The good-natured “feud” is just one of many ways that Kennedy Krieger and the Ronald McDonald House have worked together to help kids and families. For many years, Kennedy Krieger staff members have participated in the Ronald McDonald House’s annual fundraising gala (the Hamburgala) and Red Shoe Shuffle 5K, explains Sandy Pagnotti, president and CEO of Ronald McDonald House Charities Maryland. And teams from Kennedy Krieger frequently volunteer at the Ronald McDonald House to cook dinner for the families staying there.
The Partnership That Love Built
More recently, the two organizations have stepped the collaboration up a notch. A couple of years ago, as they were developing their strategic plans, they brainstormed new ways to serve each other. Delia, Pagnotti and their colleagues swiftly solidified a partnership that Kennedy Krieger approaches exactly as it does its patients: “We wrap our arms around this partnership and embrace it,” Delia says.
To kick things off, the Ronald McDonald House gave Kennedy Krieger a snack cart—not just any snack cart, but the Rolls-Royce of snack carts, custom-built by the Construction Owners Association of America for the Ronald McDonald House and dubbed “The Cart That Love Built.” Kennedy Krieger staff members—including President and CEO Dr. Bradley L. Schlaggar—use the cart regularly to hand out snacks, prizes and more to patients and co-workers in the Institute’s inpatient hospital.
And this January, Kennedy Krieger child life specialist Eve Kenney begins workshops for families staying at the Ronald McDonald House. The workshops include groups for parents and other caregivers, recreation groups for patients, and Sibshops for patients’ siblings. Developed by the Sibling Support Project, “The Sibshops are therapeutic gatherings where kids can talk with each other and with me about what it feels like to have a sibling with a chronic diagnosis, and strategies to help them get through tough days,” Kenney says.
“We couldn’t wait to plan these groups because we knew the difference they could make,” Delia says. “This collaborative effort is inspiring.”
And with the help of the Women’s Initiative Network (WIN) for Kennedy Krieger—an organization dedicated to improving the lives of the patients and students, and their families, served by the Institute through advocacy, fundraising and volunteerism—Kennedy Krieger has the funds it needs to keep the collaboration going: Last October, WIN raised $42,000 for the Institute’s sibling and family support groups at its third annual Barrels & Bonfires fundraising event at Farmacy Brewing in Reisterstown, Md.
And it’s only just beginning. Stay tuned for news of more joint programming from Kennedy Krieger and the Ronald McDonald House!
Sibling and family support services aren’t always covered under insurance, although the Institute offers them free of charge. Support our patients and their families today!