Walsh family encourages support of charitable cause

Back on Thursday, Jan. 30, the 32nd Annual Ronald McDonald House of the Ozarks Share a Heart Campaign kicked off at 70 McDonald’s restaurant locations, which includes Mountain Grove.
During this time, customers are encouraged to support local families by adopting paper hearts at the cost of $1, $5 or $20.
Social media contests are also being held for those posting a selfie with their hers on Facebook for a chance to win one of four $250 Great Southern Bank MasterCard gift cards.
The benefit runs for 30 days through the month of February and benefits families of seriously-ill and injured children support by the Ronald McDonald House.
Around 571 Wright County families have benefited from Springfield’s Ronald McDonald’s Houses through the years.
This year’s featured family from Wright County in a report is the Walsh family from Mansfield.
“Our baby was admitted to the NICU the day after she was born due to respiratory distress,” it said in a report.
“We thought it would just be a short stay and slept on the hospital couch. Soon it was discovered she had a rare infection and her condition worsened to the point she had to be put on a ventilator. Ronald McDonald House had a room available and it became a little haven of comfort and peace in one of the hardest times of our life…To be able to spend a few hours somewhere each day that felt homey and clean was an amazing reprieve. Thankfully, so many prayers were answered and our little angel made a full recovery and were able to go home less than two weeks later…She is thriving and every time we think about our hospital stay, we think about how incredibly grateful we are that Ronald McDonald House was there as we lived too far away to commute back and forth easily. There is so much thought put into every detail of things there; from the meals, snacks rooms, etc. We are forever grateful for our time there.”