Ronald McDonald House Blazes A New Trail With Revamped PJ Walk For Kids
The Ronald MacDonald House Charities®Atlantic division isn’t about to let a pandemic stand in the way of its most anticipated event of the year.
The organization’s annual PJ Walk For Kids was postponed earlier this year in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. But now the beloved fundraiser is back, with a revamped, Covid-friendly format the organizers say could make it better than ever.
Tenille Goodspeed is RMHC Atlantic’s special events coordinator. She says the new PJ Walk will happen from September 25 until October 2, with a series of events, prizes, and special surprises planned throughout the week.
Traditionally, The PJ Walk happens in June and features a jam-packed day of games, prizes, activities like face painting and bouncy castles, and of course, the pajama-clad walk that gives the day its name.
The event will look a little different this year, but Goodspeed says it retains all the spirit and energy that made past events so exciting.
“We’ve done everything we can to honour the tradition of the PJ Walk this year and I’m so excited to see what our participants do with this new format,” she says.
This year’s PJ Walk will be a “do-it-at-home” event. When participants sign up, they’ll get a “race kit” stocked with everything they need to carry out the week’s activities.
The kit includes a Bingo card kids can use to mark off activities like naming their PJ Walk teddy bear, going on a PJ walk, or participating in other PJ Walk activities.
The race kit also holds gifts from event sponsors, and all the tools and supplies participants need to complete all the PJ walk events on their Bingo card.
“And then there’s a whole online campaign to encourage doing those activities throughout the week. There are prizes, so if you get four corners or a full bingo card, there are prizes associated with that. There are also some extra prizes along the way, and a few other surprises I think people are really going to love,” Goodspeed says.
“It means you get to celebrate the PJ Walk, but you get to make it your own and celebrate in the safety of your own home and neighbourhood.”
In the past four years, RMHC has raised about $600,000 through the PJ Walk For Kids. The pandemic has significantly impacted the support that RMHC Atlantic typically receives from the community and Goodspeed says they’ve been working hard to make sure the event is fun for participants but can also provide the critical fundraising RMHC needs to continue offering its services.
“It’s certainly a different kind of fundraising that we are exploring these days,” Goodspeed says. “But ultimately we are finding the charitable spirit hasn’t gone anywhere. Everybody is still out there to help their community and we see that daily.”
For parents like Shana Holloran, that kind of support for RMHC can be life-changing.
Holloran has two kids: her son Chase, who’s three, and her 17-month-old daughter Charlie. They’re both safe today but Holloran says both pregnancies came with complications.
Holloran has epilepsy, so her pregnancies were considered high-risk. That meant lots of trips to the hospital and what felt like endless hours waiting in fluorescent-lit rooms.
“I had appointments all the time. And where I’m not allowed to have a license because I have epilepsy, I was stuck at the hospital all day long until my husband got off work,” Holloran explains.
I was brutally sick with my son when I was pregnant with him, and I used to spend my days at the hospital sleeping on the couch upstairs in the cafeteria,” she says. “When I found out about the Ronald MacDonald House Family Room near the end of my pregnancy it changed everything.”
Along with the Ronald McDonald House, RMHC Atlantic’s services also include Family Rooms at The Moncton Hospital and the IWK Health Centre that offer families home-cooked meals, warm showers, a comfortable environment filled with games and puzzles, and comfort and support from volunteers.
Holloran said she became very familiar with the Family Room in Moncton over the last few years and has even become good friends with a few of the volunteers who gave her much-needed support during tough times.
“It’s just such a wonderful place to be because everyone just feels so much like family and they’re so supportive. It definitely feels like home, for sure,” Holloran said.
The PJ Walk For Kids directly helps support Maritime families traveling for the hospital care that their sick or injured child needs.
For more information, or to sign up to participate, visit the PJ Walk For Kids Website.
This story is sponsored by Huddle.