Mary Lorza has lived in Pooler, GA for 16 years, but is originally from Florida. She and her husband, Jose, have 7-year-old Twins Sophia and Pepe. Mary is raising money for Ronald McDonald House Charities.

Imagine this scenario. Your child has fallen ill. The closest hospital with the equipment and expertise to deal with your child's illness is 30 minutes or more away from your home. After spending all day in the hospital, you realize that your child will have to stay for several days, maybe a week or two.  What will you do? It’s a long drive back home; your spouse and other child have to continue working and going to school. You want to stay with your sick child, but it will be difficult. The first couple of nights you sleep in the hospital room. Your spouse and other child commute every night but cannot stay long due to the long drive. You are exhausted, confused, scared. You are barely eating and the costs are racking up. You need a place where you can relax, eat something healthy, clear your mind. Having a child in the hospital is a very traumatic experience, even more so if home is far from the hospital. 

We have had to deal with similar scenarios multiple times. Our twins Sophia and Jose 'Pepe' were born at Memorial hospital Aug 7, 2010. They were born at 26 weeks. Sophia weighed only 1lb 14 oz. and Pepe was 2 lbs 2 oz. It was the beginning of a long stay in the NICU - almost 2.5 months. All this time we commuted back and forth every day from Pooler. Sometimes multiple times per day. 

While in the NICU Pepe got very sick, and he contracted meningitis. After much treatment, he was able to beat the odds and survived! But the infection damaged his brain significantly. He was diagnosed with cerebral palsy and it was the beginning of a long journey of doctor visits, surgeries and hospital stays. He has had two surgeries in Atlanta one which required him to stay in the hospital for a week. Unfortunately, due to capacity constraints, we were not able to stay at the Ronald McDonald House in Atlanta, so we had to crunch up in the hospital room alternating recliner and cot for the week while Sophia stayed back in Pooler with her grandmother.

Just a few weeks after the surgery 2014, Pepe fell ill and we had to come to Memorial. Once again in January and February of this year Pepe had to undergo unexpected brain surgery. These hospital stays were different. We were able to get a room at the Ronald McDonald House; our home away from home for several weeks. Experiencing both hospital stays so close with and without the house is eye opening. It is easy to underestimate a hot meal and a warm comfortable bed until you don't have it. Especially when you have to deal with so many other challenges: your child’s health, keeping things as normal as possible for other children and continuing to work and provide for your family. Being greeted and chatting with staff and volunteers, having the peace of mind and not worrying about your spouse having to drive back exhausted late at night from the hospital, keeping the family together and being able to share stories with other parents are some of the blessings we got from staying at the House.

Unless you have lived through the situation, it is very hard to appreciate how important the Ronald McDonald House mission is. On behalf of all the families that have received that support, we would like to thank the Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Coastal Empire staff, leadership and volunteers for everything you do. 

We are asking for your help in reaching our goal of $3,000 which will provide a family to stay for a month at The Ronald McDonald House. 

Thank for helping me reach my goal and helping another family be close to their child.