Prince Albert Ronald McDonald House gets major boost thanks to $550,000 donation from local family foundation

(Left to right) Marie Broda, Gord Broda, and Barb Broda pose for a photo after donating $550,000 towards the construction of the new Prince Albert Ronald McDonald House. -- Submitted photo.

Emokhare Paul Anthony

Daily Herald

The Ronald McDonald House Charities’ Miles to Go Campaign received a big boost in October from a Prince Albert family.

On Oct. 11, the charity announced that Gord and Barb Broda and the Cas and Marie Broda Family Foundation of Prince Albert had donated $550,000 for the construction of the new Ronald McDonald House in Prince Albert.

Ronald McDonald House Charities Saskatchewan CEO Tammy Forrester said they were thrilled and humbled by the family’s generosity.

“This gift is incredibly important to RMHC-SK as it speaks to the commitment that the Broda family has to supporting families and communities,” Forrester said in a press release. “It is their second gift to a capital project in RMHC SK’s history as they generously gave back in 2012 during Saskatoon’s House expansion. We are thrilled by their support and humbled by their generosity.”

The new 12 guestroom House in Prince Albert will support a total of 494 families per year; $8 million of the capital raised will contribute to the provincial expansion, in Prince Albert. In an interview with the Herald, Forrester said the project will benefit families with children receiving care at Victoria Hospital.

“Families have to feel like this is home or as close to home as possible—a place of comfort, safety, where they can just be who they are,” Forrester said. “If we’ve created a space like that for all the people we serve, then I feel like we are doing the work we have been called to do.” 

The Prince Albert Ronald McDonald House will provide families with a warm and welcoming home away from home and the support they will need while their children receive the medical attention that requires a lengthy hospital stay.

“Children are our future,” reads a statement from the Broda family on the donation. “The support of children and families is the backbone of building stronger communities. This has always been a philanthropic initiative that we as the Broda Family have been drawn to.”

Forrester said the capital project aims to raise a total of $26.5 million provincially to build Houses in Regina and Prince Albert. She said the Broda donation was a welcome boost, but they still have a long way to go before hitting their fundraising goal.

“We’re definitely not there yet,” she said. “We’re still very much in the fundraising stage and I’m pretty positive about how it’s going. I think the community has been very supportive but we will obviously set our sights on outside communities like Nipawin, Melfort, and Meadow Lake, and Northern communities with families that will use the house.”

Forrester said the donation from the Broda Family is the biggest so far in Prince Albert.

“ln Prince Albert. It is the biggest and we are still reaching out to other people to come in (and) hoping that others will see the value that we serve Prince Albert families,” Forrester said.

Forrester said the new it saves families out of pocket expenses to have a Ronald McDonald House nearby. Guests are asked to contribute $10 per night to cover operating costs, a number that hasn’t changed since 1985, but no family will be turned away if they can’t pay. The house includes everything from a parking space to a guest room, laundry services, and food services.

“You can stay in the house as long as that child is in the hospital,” Forrester said.

The Prince Albert Ronald McDonald House location was offered as a donation by Lake Country Co-op last year, which removed the cost of buying a plot of land. Forrester said it’s an ideal location next to the hospital, so families can be closer to their sick children.

“We anticipate, we’ll be able to hopefully start building later this year or early next year depending on how we do with fundraising,” Forrester said.

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