By TONY TAGLAVORE, Journal Services

Dr. Steven Bell didn’t need much convincing when asked to support the proposed Shreveport-Bossier City Ronald McDonald House.

The Senior Pastor at First Methodist Church Shreveport learned first-hand the facilities’ importance while living in Corsicana, Texas.

“Easter 2018, my oldest daughter (Ann, then 13 years old) ate a raw oyster and got salmonella,” Dr. Bell told the Shreveport-Bossier Journal. “She became septic. Basically, her spleen exploded. She ended up in an ambulance to Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas. She spent the better part of two months there. During that time, we were processed into a Ronald McDonald House. We ate there, stayed there, hung out there.”

Sure, Dr. Bell and his wife could have stayed in a hotel, or made the three-hour round-trip drive each day. But by staying at a Ronald McDonald House, they saved money and, perhaps most important, time.

“We got to be there with our daughter. She was very sick. In the first month, she had four surgeries. We didn’t know if she was going to survive. We were able to not have to worry about where we were going to be, where we were going to stay, what we were going to eat. This was all taken care of. We got to focus on our daughter and her healing, focus on conversations we needed to have with her care team — her doctors and the medical staff — and just be together.”

Come May 2025, families of seriously-ill hospitalized children from the area will have the same opportunity. That is when north Louisiana’s first Ronald McDonald House is expected to open. Wednesday morning, shovels moved dirt at 9100 Susan Drive in Shreveport, on Willis Knighton Health’s South campus. (Children will not have to be hospitalized at WK for their family to stay at the House). $7.5 million of a $10 million goal has been raised in approximately 18 months, which will allow the facility to be built. If and when the total goal is reached, the $10 million will cover the build and three years of operating expenses.

Ronald McDonald House provides “all the comforts of home”, including home-cooked meals and internet access, as well as emotional support.

“Truly it was incredible,” Lori Moore, Mission Director for Ronald McDonald House Shreveport-Bossier, said of the amount of money donated in a relatively short amount of time. “This community showed up so big. As we’ve said from the beginning, every gift matters, every gift counts. But the generosity of this community of Shreveport-Bossier has been remarkable. People have wanted to see this happen. I never get questioned about the need or the why. Everyone knows this is something we need and they want to be a part of it.”

Moore, who lives in Bossier, has been in fundraising most of her career. Ronald McDonald House Charities of Arkansas and north Louisiana is based in Little Rock, and needed someone local to sell its vision to potential donors. But Moore said there wasn’t much selling needed.

“We’re about relationships. We want partnerships that are going to last the sustainability of the house. I don’t want to cold call somebody. I don’t want to make anybody feel uncomfortable. I want to have a relationship with you. I want this initial gift to be a gift for you to say you want to see this house be here, but I also want you bought into the mission. I want your team, your family, your employees at the house volunteering for a long time.”

Early on, Carter Credit Union bought into the mission, becoming the House’s technology sponsor with a $100,000 donation. But, Chief Executive Officer Joe Arnold continued to learn how meaningful the House will be to parents of sick children. Arnold was moved, he is now a member of the Board of Directors.

“If you ever had a sick child, but even if you haven’t, you can easily put yourself in (a parent’s) shoes and imagine how hard that is,” Arnold said. “The last thing you want to deal with is having a place to stay. To hear the stories and realize when a child is sick and in the hospital for days and weeks at a time, parents want to be there every moment. This really serves people who live a little bit of a distance away from the hospital. You might have a 45 minute or hour commute. Imagine how hard that would be, while trying to work. Maybe you have other kids you are taking care of. To be able to basically hole up right next to the hospital, its an amazing resource and need.”

Dr. Bell said First Methodist Church Shreveport was the first church to donate to the proposed House, sponsoring a Family Suite. He views First Methodist’s commitment as an extension of his and the congregation’s faith.

“For me as a pastor, we’re doing what Jesus said. We’re loving one another. We’re creating opportunities for people in a very difficult, challenging time, where they can absolutely crater. Where resources are going to be running low. It’s more than a safety net. It’s the arms of God that are going to hold them in that difficult time.”

Contact Tony at SBJTonyT@gmail.com.