| Mary Hardbarger

mary.hardbarger@roanoke.com, 381-1679

CHRISTIANSBURG -- In 1974, Philadelphia Eagles tight end Fred Hill's life changed forever when his daughter, Kim, was diagnosed with cancer.

For three years, Hill and his wife camped out on benches and in hospital waiting rooms while their daughter went through cancer treatment.

After watching other families like his own spend restless hours in the hospital, Hill knew that something had to be done.

The football star began to rally his fellow teammates and General Manager Jim Murray to raise money to provide a comfortable area for families of children being treated in hospitals.

Later that year, the funds raised helped buy and renovate an old house near the hospital and was introduced as the first Ronald McDonald House.

Today, because of Hill's efforts, families across the world can find refuge in Ronald McDonald House Charities, which has spread to more than 50 countries and has opened more than 200 houses worldwide.

George Rust of Christiansburg, much like Hill, went through a life-changing experience in 2008 when his son, George IV, was born prematurely because of a placental abruption.

"You're never really ready for something like that," Rust said. "We realized there were a million different things we didn't know or have."

For two months, Rust and his wife, Tabitha, traveled back and forth from their home to be with their son in the neonatal intensive care unit at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital.

But instead of sitting in the uneasy environment of the waiting room, they found comfort in the hospital's family room provided by Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southwest Virginia.

The room provides a calm getaway for families of pediatric patients who are looking to depart from the stress and sadness of their situations.

"I spent many days on those recliners," Rust said. "It was so nice to have some place to get away to."

Just blocks from the hospital in downtown Roanoke rests the only Ronald McDonald House in Southwest Virginia.

Located on Jefferson Street, the house has 18 rooms, private baths, a kitchen, laundry facilities, televisions and telephones. Families are asked to pay $15 to stay, but they are not required to.

Rust and his wife looked into staying at the house but chose not to in order to allow families who had to drive longer distances a chance to stay there.

Laney Mofield, executive director of the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southwest Virginia, said all the houses are positioned close to hospitals that provide a certain level of pediatric care. There is a Level 3 neonatal intensive care unit at Roanoke Memorial that draws from about 30 regional hospitals.

The next closest hospital providing this type of care is in Johnston City, Tenn., Mofield said.

The Ronald McDonald House in Roanoke averages more than 700 families each year. It operates solely on individual and corporate donations and is not owned or underwritten by the McDonald's corporation.

"They [McDonald's] do assist with some of our fundraising efforts, but they don't just write us a check each month," she said.

Today, Rust's son is a healthy and happy 15-month-old, and Rust is busy giving back to the organization that brought his family so much relief.

On Oct. 17, he put on his first fundraiser -- a pancake breakfast with all proceeds going to Ronald McDonald House Charities.

Reaching out to anyone and everyone -- Mark Shaver of Bull & Bones Brewhaus & Grill, the local chapter of the American Pool players Association and the Alpha Delta Pi sorority at Virginia Tech, just to name a few -- Rust organized the event and raised more than $800 for the cause.

"I had to call a lot of strangers," he said. "But in the end, it all came together."

He also tries to volunteer at the Ronald McDonald House family room in Roanoke Memorial twice a month to help clean and cook for families.

Mofield said that because of the shape of the economy, many people, such as Hill, are finding other ways to assist the organization aside from monetary donations.

"We haven't so much seen a decrease in the number of donations but in the size of the donations," she said.

From toilet paper to laundry detergent, Mofield said that "all the things you need at home, we need here."

Rust hopes to draw in a larger crowd and to extend the menu at his next fundrasing event in March.

And, he said, he hopes he won't have to call any more strangers.