St. Louis
2020
ANNUAL REPORT
OUR MISSION To provide a home-away-from-home for families of seriously ill children seeking medical treatment in a St. Louis-area hospital.
A YEAR LIKE NO OTHER THE HEART OF RMHC ST. LOUIS: SERVING FAMILIES WHEN THEY NEED IT MOST The COVID-19 pandemic challenged our organization by forcing us to pivot daily operations of our Ronald McDonald Houses and Ronald McDonald Family Rooms. Volunteer opportunities, working conditions for staff, and special events – every aspect of the organization felt the impact. Amid the uncertainty surrounding 2020, the goal of Ronald McDonald House Charities of St. Louis was unwavering: to provide a safe, supportive, uplifting, and hopeful environment for families with sick children. Thanks to the support from our friends and neighbors, RMHC St. Louis has continued to provide family-centered care to those who needed it most. The statistics highlighted in this report showcase the physical outcomes that were achieved during the year. We also
want to take a moment to reflect on the emotional impact that Ronald McDonald Houses and Ronald McDonald Family Rooms have on families. Beverly, a mother from Washburn, Missouri, who stayed at the West County House shared, “Without Ronald McDonald House, there’s no way my family and I could have afforded to be with my daughter during her stay in the hospital so far away from home.” Although the organization served fewer families in 2020, it does not mean the need for what RMHC St. Louis provided was any less. During the pandemic, some of the most vulnerable families came through our doors looking for comfort and care and found a safe refuge from the choas of the pandemic.
LETTER
FROM THE CHAIRPERSON Despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ronald McDonald House Charities of St. Louis continued to be a beacon of hope for families who traveled to St. Louis seeking medical care for their children. In 2020, we proudly served 343 families in our three Ronald McDonald Houses or eight long-term apartments and had a total of 15,517 visitors across our four Ronald McDonald Family Rooms. Faced with the uncertainty of daily life during a pandemic, each of these families was supported with care and comfort when "keeping families close" carried more weight than ever before. The resilience of House leadership, staff, volunteers, donors and the entire Ronald McDonald House community carried us through 2020. Sadly, when the pandemic began, we had to suspend many of our volunteer opportunities, including our Meals from the Heart program. Nonetheless, our community supporters overwhelmed us with donations of cleaning supplies, meals from local restaurants, and the constant knowledge that we were all in this together. We are confident that 2021 will bring with it a return to these programs - and we can't wait to see you all again! In this year of uncertainty, our donors stepped up in a truly heartwarming way. In 2020, we raised just over $5.8 million in support of our core programs, with $1.2 million of that revenue coming through McDonald’s Round-Up for RMHC initiative. To each donor and financial supporter, THANK YOU! We could not have done it without you. As we close the 2020 chapter and turn to 2021, we are reminded of the solid foundation of support from generous partners, neighbors, and friends, like you. Because of the unwavering support we have received, we head into the future confident in our ability to serve seriously ill children and their families when they need it most. It has been my honor to serve as board chair for the past two years. As I pass the torch to my successor, Jeff Barone, it is with a sense of pride and incredible excitement for what the future holds. We are so fortunate to have your support, and we hope to see you soon! All the best, Deb Vogt Board Chair
2020 BOARD OF DIRECTORS CHAIRPERSON Deb Vogt VICE CHAIRPERSON Jeff Barone TREASURER Bridget Hoy SECRETARY Tony Irace Karen Baer Steve Beshore Dave Brandt Dr. Mary Michaeleen Cradock Greg Diekemper Joan Elhoffer Beverly Garner Chris Giarla Mark Heffernan Alicia Jett Scott Karchunas Dr. Joseph Kahn Ryan Kuryla Steve Malter Jim Mosby Michele Muscarella-Harmon Jill Oller Tim Reeves Ellyn Rosenblum Nolan Ruiz Keith Schieler Dave Tornetto
CORE PROGRAMS One of the worst things that can happen to a parent is to learn that their child is sick and needs to be hospitalized. Suddenly, life stops overnight, and the world is full of worry and fear. For many of these families, there is an added stress: distance. Sometimes the best medical care available is hundreds of miles - or more - from home. In addition, families face the financial demands of mounting medical bills, job insecurity and a healing journey that can take months or even years. This is why Ronald McDonald Houses and Ronald McDonald Family Rooms exist: to keep families close to their seriously ill children.
RONALD McDONALD HOUSE® • Three Houses and eight extended-stay apartments in St. Louis serve as a home-away-from-home for 59 families of seriously ill children each night • Provides the comforts of home to more than 700 families in a typical year, including private bedrooms, home-cooked meals, comfortable living areas, a kitchen and laundry facilities • Open 24 hours a day, 365 days per year
RONALD McDONALD FAMILY ROOM® • Four St. Louis-area Ronald McDonald Family Rooms serve as an oasis inside Mercy Children’s Hospital, St. Louis Children’s Hospital, and SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital • Provides comfort and care to over 9,000 families in a typical year, with 90,000+ visitors annually • Each Family Room is equipped with a kitchen area, complimentary snacks and coffee, showers, laundry facilities, Internet and TV
2020 FINANCIAL REPORT Support and Revenue Special Events and Miscellaneous Promotions Annual Giving Planned Giving McDonald’s/RMHC Funds Lodging Miscellaneous Income In-Kind Donations Capital Campaign TOTAL
$587,337 $2,888,364 $33,946 $1,165,630 $124,210 $432,158 $365,000 $255,000 $5,851,645*
Expenses Programs General and Administrative Fundraising TOTAL
Net Assets
$2,952,009 $544,062 $743,446 $4,239,517**
**The information reported in this pie chart does not include any “other income or expense” items which RMHC of St. Louis reports below the net operating income line of the financial statements. Such items include dividends and unrealized losses on investments, interest expense and depreciation expense.
*The information reported in this pie chart does not include any “investment income” revenue, including unreal gain/loss, which RMHC of St. Louis reports below the net operating income line of the financial statements.
2%
Net Assets Available for General Use Net Investment in Property and Equipment Board Designated for Endowment Permanently Restricted Net Assets Temporarily Restricted Net Assets TOTAL 3%
4% 6%
10%
$2,862,566 $10,721,270 $3,840,447 $617,739 $699,392 $18,741,414
4%
15%
18%
7%
20% 13%
21%
49%
69%
58%
1% Special Events/ Miscellaneous Promotions
Lodging
Annual Giving
Miscellaneous Income
Planned Giving
In-Kind Donations
McDonald’s/RMHC Funds
Capital Campaign
Programs General and Administrative
Fundraising
Net Assets Available for General Use
Permanently Restricted Net Assets
Net Investment in Property and Equipment
Temporarily Restricted Net Assets
Board Designated for Endowment
2020 IMPACT RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES
15,517
Following the guidance from our global office in March, we suspended the acceptance of new families into the House program. The long-term apartments on West Pine Boulevard continued in operation.*
343
OUR LONG-TERM APARTMENTS HAD A
OCCUPANCY RATE*
Despite the global pandemic, RMHC St. Louis provided clean and comfortable spaces for families to rest, recharge and connect safely with one another.
RONALD McDONALD HOUSE®
TOTAL VISITORS TO THE FOUR ST. LOUIS-AREA RONALD MCDONALD FAMILY ROOMS
100%
CHANGES MADE ALONG THE WAY
FAMILIES RECEIVED LOW- OR NO-COST HOUSING AT RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE
28
46%
DAYS WAS THE AVERAGE LENGTH OF STAY AT THE HOUSE
OF FAMILIES HAD INFANTS IN A NEONATAL INTENSIVE CARE UNIT
PATIENTS FROM
9
MEDICAL CENTERS WERE SERVED BY RMHC ST. LOUIS
By July 2020, families were able to check in on a limited basis to all three Ronald McDonald Houses. The RMHC team continued to focus on the core mission of providing overnight accommodations, meals and support to families when they needed it most.
RONALD McDONALD FAMILY ROOM® In April, all four of the in-hospital Ronald McDonald Family Rooms became primarily inactive. For the rest of the year, the Family Room team worked closely with hospital partners to offer these special spaces on an individual and limited basis. *Throughout 2020, guest families were able to utilize the long-term apartments on West Pine Boulevard because of the private set-up. This allowed families to isolate themselves from other guests.
FINDING COMFORT AND CARE ALICIA'S WHOLE FAMILY STAYED CLOSE WHEN SHE NEEDED THEM MOST 2020 was a year of challenges. 17-year-old Alicia Berkey received a bi-lateral lung transplant at St. Louis Children’s Hospital on March 26, 2020. That same day, the Coronavirus pandemic caused the hospital to change its protocols, allowing only one parent to stay with a patient. Her family was four hours away from their home in Spring Hill, Kansas, and were at high risk for the virus. Thankfully, Alicia’s parents were able to quarantine with her and her three siblings at the long-term apartments on West Pine Boulevard, just one mile from St. Louis Children’s Hospital. The private space offered a living room, full kitchen, two bedrooms, and a dining area where the family could comfortably be together. “It meant the world to us to be able to stay by Alicia’s side as a family during these difficult and troubling times,” says Alicia’s mom, Crissie. In early July, the Berkey family was finally able to go back home. For those three incredibly stressful months, the Ronald McDonald House was a home-away-from-home, offering a safe and comfortable place to stay together during the family’s most challenging moments. “The biggest comfort was knowing we had a community of people willing to share in the joys and trials of our journey,” says Crissie. “Thank you for all you do!”
Alicia, 17
4,321
Paige Glen Altman Golf Tournament
2020 VOLUNTEER HIGHLIGHTS
AIM Carpeting
HOURS OF RECORDED WORK*
$123,321 TOTAL VALUE OF HOURS WORKED
MEALS WERE PROVIDED BY OUR GENEROUS COMMUNITY MEMBERS
*Hours reflect volunteer opportunities before and during the pandemic. They do not include any hours spent by individuals during the first quarter who participated in Meals from the Heart or Service Group volunteers.
Vito's
821
ALTHOUGH RMHC ST. LOUIS HAD TO SUSPEND ALL ON-SITE VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES IN MARCH ADMIDST THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, COMMUNITY MEMBERS CONTINUED TO SHOW THEIR SUPPORT AND FOR THAT WE ARE SO GRATEFUL!
Favazza's
VOLUNTEERS
LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT Is there anyone who is not happy to see 2020 come to a close and move into 2021? And yet, despite the many challenges during these unprecedented times, many good things took place. For our organization, the leadership of our Board of Directors and the dedication of our frontline employees stood out in a big way. And the way our donors stepped up and supported our organization was exemplary. When we had to cancel our Meals from the Heart program, we asked folks to cover the cost of a meal by sending in a donation. Over $100,000 was sent in to keep the families fed on a daily basis. And what would we have done without McDonald’s and Round-Up? Our St. Louis owner/operators’ group, led by Ronald McDonald House Board Member Joan Elhoffer, implemented Round-Up in many of the St. Louis stores. In fact, St. Louis was the top revenue-producing co-op in the United States. This boost in revenue helped us offset the loss of income we experienced by not being able to hold our Golf Tournament and Sporting Clays dinner auctions. One of the most challenging parts of the pandemic was shutting down our Family Rooms and our volunteer program. Volunteers are the lifeblood of the Ronald McDonald House and the Family Rooms and bring so much energy, passion, and life to our organization. We have missed them greatly. As we begin to return to some form of “normal,” we look back at 2020 with a great sense of pride in how our organization survived this crisis and, in many ways, thrived despite all the challenges. 2020 proved once again, the Ronald McDonald House, with all of our wonderful volunteers and staff, is a tremendous organization. Always grateful,
Dan Harbaugh, President Ronald McDonald House Charities of St. Louis
RMHC ST. LOUIS STAFF DAN HARBAUGH President CHERI WUERTZ Vice President, Finance JASON HUFF Vice President, Development JUDY SCHULER Vice President, Operations PAT NEWBY Director, Administration ALISON KASPAR Director, Human Resources RICH RODGERS Director, Facilities VERONICA BIVER Senior Manager, Family Services MICHELLE BURMANN Senior Manager, Finance DARA MARKUS Annual and Community Giving Manager LANISHA THOMAS Data Manager ABBY MAUER Event Manager JACOB MCGUIRE Family Services Manager, West County KELSEY CRIPE Family Services Manager, West Pine COURTNEY FISCHER Family Room Program Manager JORDAN ZACHOW Asst. Family Services Mgr., Park Avenue CLARE BURKE Asst. Family Services Mgr., West Pine RENEISHA BROWN Asst. Family Services Mgr., West County MAKAYLA JOHNSON Assistant Family Room Manager COURTNEY BRADSHAW Family Room Program Coordinator MALLORI GREEN Community Relations Coordinator KATIE LAYMAN Communications Coordinator LARRY PRY Data Coordinator BARB JARVIS Finance Coordinator TRACEY REYNOLDS Project Coordinator MCKENNA COOPER Volunteer Coordinator EMILY KOHLBERG Human Resources Assistant APRIL CUSUMANO Housekeeper, West Pine VICKI RUCKMAN Housekeeper, West Pine JOY TATE Housekeeper, West County
RMHC GIVES FAMILIES WHAT THEY NEED MOST - EACH OTHER
St. Louis
WEST PINE HOUSE | 314-531-6601 4381 West Pine Blvd. St. Louis, MO 63108 PARK AVENUE HOUSE | 314-773-1100 3450 Park Ave. St. Louis, MO 63104 WEST COUNTY HOUSE | 314-485-0300 300 Ronald McDonald House Ln. St. Louis, MO 63141
www.rmhcstl.com