RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE® AT STANFORD REOPENS RENOVATED LEGACY BUILDING, THE TAUBE FAMILY CENTER, TO COMPLETE MULTI-YEAR EXPANSION PROJECT
Combined Facilities Create Largest Ronald McDonald House in the World
PALO ALTO, Calif. Years of planning, fundraising, construction, renovations, and community support came to fruition on Thursday, May 25, 2017, at 10:30 am, when Ronald McDonald House® at Stanford celebrated the conclusion of a multi-phase expansion project with the grand reopening of its 44,000-square-foot legacy building, the Taube Family Center, at a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
One year after the grand opening of the new Arrillaga Family Center, the reopening allows the combined facilities to operate as one campus and provide a continuum of care to 123 families each night, making it the largest Ronald McDonald House in the world. All families who stay at the House travel outside their communities to access medical treatment for their critically ill children at local hospitals.
Located at 520 Sand Hill Road in Palo Alto, the 56-bedroom Taube Family Center underwent a year of renovations to add nine bedrooms to the original 47 from repurposed space. The renovation represents the second and final phase of the $46.5 million expansion project, which includes the construction of the new, 67-room building, the Arrillaga Family Center, which opened next door in May 2016.
RMHS is working to raise the last $2.5 million to fund this final phase of the expansion. Last month, Taube Philanthropies came forward with an additional $1.25 million matching grant challenge, and, along with RMHS, is now calling on the community to help raise the remaining half to conclude fundraising efforts to pay for the renovation and help more families in need.
Taube Philanthropies has donated a total of $4.25 million to the project, with an initial matching grant challenge of $3 million in the first phase of the campaign. Tad Taube, founder and chairman of Taube Philanthropies, has a longstanding relationship with the House dating back to 2002, with numerous donations, sponsorships, and other personal and philanthropic support.
"It is my strong belief that collaborative giving can achieve a much greater impact than a single philanthropic gift," said Taube. "Bringing donors together for a wonderful cause like the beautiful new campus at Ronald McDonald House at Stanford is a great example of this principle."
Ronald McDonald joined a current resident; CEO Annette Eros; Steven Ramirez, board chair for Ronald McDonald House Charities; Karen Boyd, board president for Ronald McDonald House at Stanford; and Rick Mayerson of Taube Investments for the ribbon cutting of the newly remodeled Ronald McDonald House at Stanford Taube Family Center.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony included remarks from Steve Ramirez, board chair of Ronald McDonald House Charities Global, and initiated the move-in process for families in need, beginning in early June.
As part of the San Francisco Design Center's "Where Hope Has a Home" project, which galvanized the Bay Area design community to provide pro bono interior design services and materials for phase one, Lisa Staprans of Staprans Design volunteered to spearhead the transformation of the Taube Family Center with her team to enhance the home-away-from-home environment in the remodeled space.
In addition to providing their pro bono design services, Staprans and her team outfitted the building by securing donated or deeply discounted materials from partners such as Sofa Outlet, La-Z-Boy, Traditional Derby, Blu Dot, Flor, Phillip Jeffries, photographer Susan Thomas, and others. The combined value of donated and discounted goods and services is estimated to be in excess of $500,000.
"It truly took a village of incredible supporters in our community to build and create this new campus," said Annette Eros, CEO of Ronald McDonald House at Stanford. "From our generous donors and amazing partners to our awesome and talented volunteers and staff, we owe a debt of gratitude to everyone who has contributed their time, money, and effort to create an oasis of hope and love for more families in need."
Considering the House's current nightly waiting list of families, both buildings are expected to be completely full once the June move-in process is complete. In addition to addressing the current demand, the new campus aims to help ease the additional demand resulting from the expansion of Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford, with expected completion in late 2017.
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About Ronald McDonald House® at Stanford:
Ronald McDonald House at Stanford opened in 1979 on the simple idea that nothing else should matter when a family is focused on healing their child. Its mission is to create a home-away-from-home for families with critically ill children undergoing treatment at local hospitals. Families are asked to pay $10 per night, however no families are ever turned away for the inability to pay. Programming provides a comprehensive mix of creative, participatory services to actively engage all family members, create a community of support, and ease everyday burdens so they can focus on what matters most – the health and well-being of their children.
For more information visit http://www.RMHStanford.org or follow on Twitter @RMHStanford.
About Taube Philanthropies:
Taube Philanthropies was established in 1981 by its founder and chairman, Tad Taube. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area and with an office in Warsaw, the Foundation makes philanthropic investments primarily in the Bay Area, Poland, and Israel, in scholarship, heritage preservation, arts and culture, education, and institution-building. Taube Philanthropies is committed to collaborative giving for greatest charitable impact and actively partners with individual donors and other foundations.
For more information, contact Vera Hannush, vhannush@taubephilanthropies.o rg or visit taubephilanthropies.org.
