RV Industry Helps Raise Funds for Ronald McDonald House

Forest River Founder and CEO Pete Liegl, center, and wife Sharon, right, pose with the winning team from East to West RV, a Forest River subsidiary.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Well over 500 people – including a strong representation from the RV industry – helped raise a ton of money last night (Oct. 13) for the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Michiana (RMHCM).

The event, McDazzle Featuring Kilts for Kids, took place at the Century Center in South Bend, Ind., and while the final tally was still to be determined, officials expect it to be one of the best ever.

“McDazzle is our annual dinner gala where we offer the opportunity for individuals across the Michiana community to fundraise for the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Michiana,” explained RMHC President & CEO Kiersten Eifler.

“The one thing that Ronald McDonald House really takes pride in is that families who utilize our services do so at no cost to them,” she pointed out. “So, everything that we have and provide to them, whether it be meals or showers or toiletries in their overnight stays, that is at no cost to any family. That’s why we rely so heavily on events like this in our community to fund us since we are 100% funded by the community itself.”

McDazzle is more than just a gala fundraiser with a chicken dinner, though. One of the unique aspects is the Kilts for Kids portion, in which teams don a kilt – they typically will choose a team name inspired by their kilt attire – and “compete” for pledge donations leading up to last night’s event, and then take the stage to solicit more donations from the audience.

Of the nine teams this year, two have direct ties to the RV industry. The three men for “Plaid to the Bone” all represented Lippert, while the “Kilted Kampers” ladies all came from East To West RV, and in the end, the Kilted Kampers came away with the win as the best kilters.

In addition, more than a handful of RV companies are sponsors of the event, including Lippert, Forest River Inc., East To West RV, Jayco, Airxcel, and American Technology Components (ATC). The Elkhart Community Foundation also is a major sponsor.

“The RV industry has been very, very generous in supporting us, whether that be the part of the companies having kilters for us that are out there fundraising in the community, down to some of the companies and individuals from the RV industry, buying tables and trying to have their presence at the events by being sponsors for us,” Eifler said. “So, not only are they helping us get the events up and running in some capacity – being kilters and fundraising for us on their own – they’re also at the event, supporting the event with sponsorships and by bidding on auction items while at the event.”

She noted that many of RMHC’s board and committee members also come from the RV industry, which has helped serve as a bridge of sorts to Elkhart County, which is where most of the families come from to use RMHC services.

Amid all the laughter and smiles last night, however, attendees also got a chance to learn firsthand how their financial support is helping families in need.

“It’s got a lot of laughter, but it’s also got a lot of … well, it’s also a bit of tear jerker just because of the fact that, for what we do as an organization, it doesn’t always have a successful outcome,” Eifler said.

RMHCM provides housing and other services to families whose children have medical issues that need to be treated on ongoing basis.

“We serve the families in a lot of different capacities,” Eifler explained. “A few of our showcase items would be that we provide a home away from home. So, that includes laundry facilities, to showers, to our 20 bedroom suites that we have that each have two queen-size beds.

“We also offer a hot and ready lunch every day at noon and we also offer hot and ready dinner every day at 6 p.m.,” she continued. “So, we have lots of opportunities for the families to walk away from the hospital sterile environment and come over and really enjoy a little bit of respite –   just something a little bit more to give them a sense of normalcy away from what oftentimes can be a horrible situation that they’re potentially going through.”

Source: https://rvbusiness.com/rv-industry-helps-raise-funds-for-ronald-mcdonald-house/