A WORTHY PROJECT

Some years ago I found a post on the Internet which seemed very interesting to me. A group called the Miniature Industries Association of America began a program in which they hoped to find people to contribute dollhouses to Ronald McDonald houses. The hope was that every Ronald McDonald house would have a dollhouse for the enjoyment of the ill children and their families. I assume that most people reading this are aware that McDonalds has a program of establishing a home in any large city, and near a hospital facility, where any child with a serious illness can be treated and the families are housed in one of the McDonald facilities. I thought it was a wonderful idea and decided that I wanted to build a dollhouse which when finished would be donated to the Ronald McDonald facilty in Miami. The dollhouse kit was donated by DuraCraft and although I later learned that furniture, wallpaper and such could also be donated by other companies, I only asked for the house kit. I do not remember the name of that first DuraCraft kit that I built, but it turned out well and with a few furniture donations from friends, the house was completed and given to the Miami facility. Next are a couple pictures of that first house.

ANOTHER RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE

I so enjoyed building that first dollhouse for Ronald McDonald that I decided to do another one. I had seen a DuraCraft house picture that I loved so I called DuraCraft and asked if The McDonald program was limited to one particular kit. I was told that I could have any kit I liked so I asked for the Manchester and received it soon after my call to request that particular kit. I wanted to donate that house to the Ronald McDonald facility in Charlottesville, VA in memory of my mother-in-law who had lived her 90 1/2 years on a farm just 16 miles from that city. She was a much loved woman who spent most of her life working in school cafeterias in the area. The food that those children got to enjoy would make most of us envious. Who has ever heard of a school lunchroom where homemade bread is served every day? As a result of her involvement with the school children, she also knew who had had a house fire, who was in need of clothes for the children and she spread the word so she was far more than the lady who ran the cafeteria. In any event, I built the Manchester and my husband Tom and I drove to Charlottesville where we presented the house. It was well received, as I would hope all of the donated houses would have been. The July 2000 issue of Miniature Collector had a nice article about the MIAA program with pictures of a number of the houses which had been donated. I never did hear how many houses were donated. In fact, I never heard anything else about the program, but hope that many houses were donated. Now for pictures of that second dollhouse.

A GREENLEAF HARRISON FOR CHARITY

During the time that I was building the two houses to be donated to Ronald McDonald homes, I received a phone call from a woman who lived in Miami Beach. She said that she had been given my name by someone involved in the McDonald program. She explained that she had a dollhouse that had been built by her deceased mother; that she wanted to donate the house to a charity, but that she did not know anything about doing dollhouses and the one her mother had built needed some refurbishing. I told her that I would be happy to look at the house and fix it up if possible. The house was brought to me and I was suprised to see that it was in pretty good shape. It did need some work, but much of the decor was in good condition. I had to do flooring because that had not been done, although all of the house was wallpapered and a lot of the rooms had furniture. I did the flooring, Tom and I did the shingling of the roof and Tom made pieces to replace trim ones that were missing. I also had to do a bit of landscaping, make flowers for the window boxes and add a few pieces of additional furniture so that all rooms were furnished. When the house was finished, I called the couple who brought it to me and told them it was ready to be picked up. They were delighted with the completed house and told me that they planned to take it to Jacksonville, FL where they wanted to donate it to the Childrens' Home, the facility where the woman's mother had lived. I have to say that doing houses for a good cause is a real joy and anyone who has the opportunity to do a similar project is well rewarded. I recently heard of a project in NJ where one can donate a dollhouse and the group involved will put the house together and give it to a child who is dealing with serious health problems. For more information on this project see the following: moreminis.blogspot.com. Now for pictures of that Harrison dollhouse.