The Johnston Lions Club has a rather unique way to generate interest – and hopefully revenue – for the ambitious fundraising drive that will enable the Ronald McDonald House to add 12 rooms to its award-winning facility in Providence.
Last Saturday morning, club president Joe Swift and six other men – Jim McCarron, Richard Boscia, Chris Giardina, David Civetti, Robert Phillips and Mauricio Palencia – left Johnston with a donated Cardi’s Construction special lift vehicle, and some 30 minutes later delivered a more than 500-pound pumpkin to the Ronald McDonald House in Providence.
“We’re hoping that children, family and friends will sign the pumpkin,” Swift said of the orange giant that was grown by Lion Richard Boscia at Comella Farms in Johnston from a seed he received from Norm Canseco. “We’d like to have people write comments or even draw on the pumpkin.”
Swift, like the entire Lions Club membership, is hoping that last weekend’s goodwill gesture will draw attention for the ongoing need to support the Rhode Island Children’s Cancer Fund, as well as raise money to help add rooms at the Ronald McDonald House.
“People don’t have to make a donation to sign the pumpkin,” Swift said. “But we want people to please consider the children and help expand the support they so much need.”
Just over 25 years ago, the Lions Clubs of Rhode Island received a call for help from families with children who were battling cancer. Those clubs came together, and with a $50,000 grant from the Lions International Foundation raised and donated $250,000.
“That was the spark that brought the Ronald McDonald House to Providence,” Swift, a longtime Lion, remembers. “Each year, over 250 families stay at the house, and an additional 1,200 enjoy the comforts of the family room.”
In short, the Ronald McDonald House presently provides 18 overnight rooms to parents of a child affected with cancer while they are visiting the child in the hospital.
Swift also explained that the Rhode Island Lions provide assistance to parents and families who have life-threatening conditions. The Lions Foundation also provides funding for needs such as babysitting services.
Moreover, the Lions Foundation pays for transportation for the child and one parent to intensive car clinics such as the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute or St. Jude Children’s Hospital, a provision for one dedicated room for parents who cannot afford the nominal fee to stay as the Ronald McDonald House.
Swift additionally noted that the Lions Foundation funds the “Music on Rounds” program, which helps children relax while they are receiving treatment and also provides gifts for stricken children during the holiday seasons.
Anyone who’d like to make a donation to help can send checks and/or money orders to the Johnston Lions Club, P.O. Box 19131, Johnston, RI 02919. For further information or with questions, call Lion Tony Carlone at 401-497-4563 or Swift at 401-486-4718.
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