Big Online Charity Poker Tournament Wednesday Night -- Please Come and Help a Worthy Cause!

This coming Wednesday night at 9:00 p.m. Central Time, a charitable poker tournament in support of the Ronald McDonald House of Rochester, MN will be held at Full Tilt Poker. Why should you consider playing? To tell you a little bit about this wonderful community resource, I am featuring a guest post by Mrs. lightning36.

"As most of you know, lightning and I had a recent cancer scare with our 15 yr. old son. Fortunately, a trip up to Mayo Clinic led to successful surgery and healing. Although not the greatest of circumstances, the Mayo experience was certainly an incredible one. What made it a comfortable one was our stay at the Ronald McDonald House.

When we first learned we were headed up to Rochester, MN, I immediately went online to start looking at places to stay. There were several concerns, however. The first was not knowing how long we would need to be there, making it difficult to reserve a room for the proper time. Location and cost were additional concerns, especially since we had never been to Rochester before.

Ronald McDonald House was better than any hotel could have been. Being able to do laundry when we realized that we’d be staying longer than planned was wonderful. The house even provided the detergent! While our son recovered enough to travel, he really just wanted to rest. In a hotel, we’d have been stuck in our room, or at best the lobby, where our son, with his 6 inch scar and swollen face, would have felt self conscious. At RMH, we had the option of staying in our room or being in the lounge. In the lounge our son laid on the couch while I read and snoozed in the recliner and lightning played online poker! Being able to go get a snack in the kitchen any time day or night was a real plus. No trying to figure out what restaurants or convenience stores might still be open. What was a real boon for us was the supply of freshly baked cookies made daily at the house by volunteers. Whenever we left the house, we grabbed a bag or two. Those cookies were our only meal for many hours on more than one day. Finally, just being able to talk with others about our experience and listen to them share theirs was helpful to us. We certainly felt blessed as we listened to the heartbreak and difficulties of some of the other families, some of whom had been there for over 6 months.

Ronald McDonald House truly became our home during a difficult situation. The staff was fabulous, the accommodations restful, and we could really focus on our main reason for being there—to get our son healthy again.

I cannot express in words what a blessing Ronald McDonald House was to us. I truly can’t imagine a better situation in such a trying time other than being in my own home. With 300 Ronald McDonald Houses now open, the number of families cared for annually is incredible. The program relies on private donations and volunteers to provide this wonderful service to families. The cost to stay is minimal. If people cannot afford to pay, it is free.

Please be as generous as you can in supporting RMH. And if you’re lucky enough to live in a community with a House, stop by and see what you can do to help! "

The mission of the Ronald McDonald House is to provide a "home away from home" and offer support to families seeking medical care for their children. We can attest by our own experience that the House does exactly that.

Details
Date: Wednesday, June 16
Time: 9:00 p.m. Central Time
Place: Full Tilt Poker
Cost: $5 + $5 ($5 to the Ronald McDonald House)
Tournament: #164273435
Password: vegas1

The tournament will be broadcast live on BuddyDankRadio. It will be in place of the regular Wednesday night blogger tournament, The Mookie.

Life certainly has its ups and downs. Places like the Ronald McDonald House see to it that the downs are bearable. Please come by and support this worthy cause!