May 2004

The newly constructed Ronald McDonald House at Stanford in Palo Alto, CA was the location for the May 2004 charity hang hosted by the Northern California Chapter of NGPP. The beautiful new buildings (there are two) offer many comforts to their residents, including a Computer Room, Library, Kitchens for residents to use (in addition to a large commercial kitchen), Laundry Rooms, a Children’s Playroom, a Teen Area, and a free-standing round aquarium in the main atrium.

In addition to caring for the families of hospitalized children, the Ronald McDonald House Charities support children’s programs worldwide. These include:

• A fleet of advanced, custom-designed vehicles that deliver low cost medical and dental care to needy children where they live
• Organizations that perform corrective surgeries for children born with facial deformities which cause emotional trauma, social isolation, and can threaten lives
• Child abuse prevention programs with emphasis on prenatal care, positive parenting, and suicide prevention
• Immunizations for mothers and babies through UNICEF
• Scholarships to students with limited access to educational and career opportunities
• And local chapters of the charity support many other programs as well

The charity hang event went very well because of all the help and donations we received. When we arrived the walls had already been smoothed and primed by the very same construction crew who built the structures. Since the site was so very large we had to set up our pasting machines, and cutting tables in three different areas. We got to work and installed 27 inch solid vinyl in a small herring bone pattern in the Dining Room and Library of Bldg. 1, and a leaf pattern in the Computer Room of Bldg. 2. In the Children’s Play Room, Teen Area and Computer Room of Bldg. 1, we hung 21 bolts of border at ceiling height. The staff of the Ronald McDonald House provided delicious pastries, coffee and juice to start our day, and pizza, salad and sodas to keep us working!

We need to express our gratitude to these wonderfully generous companies, without whose support, these charity hang events would not be possible:
Scotch Paint/DrawTite:  Charles MacHarg
Brewster Wallcoverings:  Kendra Soderer
Imperial/Olney Wallcoverings
Gardner-Gibson:  Frank Nicholson
Zinsser Products:  Larry Magas

The Northern California Chapter members who gave up their Saturday for this worthwhile event include: Lauretta Jenkins, Larry Charon, Earl Wanbaugh, Steve Shlee, Donald Foreman, Pax Cheng, Susie-Q Conklin, and guest paperhanger, Fred Crum.

When we were all done and the tools packed away, the Executive Director, Honey Meir-Levi had this to say: “Community support such as yours makes this House possible today and in the future. You have more than my gratitude. You also have the gratitude of all the families who stay at the House. Thank you so very much for helping to make this dream a reality!”