dway@heraldsun.com; 419-6654
CHAPEL HILL -- It describes itself as a "beacon of hope" for some, and the Ronald McDonald House of Chapel Hill is going to let its light shine this holiday season with a fundraiser that has captured the imagination -- and lots of volunteer hours -- from the community.
Glowing candles will line the streets of 43 neighborhoods this month as part of the 17th annual Light-A-Luminary project, which the Ronald McDonald House depends on to support the children and families who make the facility their "home" while sick children are patients in UNC Hospitals.
Luminaria kits containing supplies for eight luminarias are being sold for $6 each. All proceeds from the project benefit the Ronald McDonald House of Chapel Hill, located at 101 Old Mason Farm Road. Last year the Light-A-Luminary project raised $56,759; over 17 years, the project has raised more than $550,000 for "the House that Love Built."
"We're just starting to get orders in. The numbers are actually up a little bit" over last year, said Elizabeth Hullender, Ronald McDonald House marketing and special events manager.
"We're very positive that it's going to go really well," Hullender said, noting that sales for the money-making project dropped last year probably because many people had luminary kits left over from the year before, when a lingering drought prompted the state, counties and municipal governments to enact burn bans that prohibited lighting the luminaries.
And even though revenue from one fundraising event earlier in the year declined, setting off some alarm bells, October's A Tasteful Affair calmed those worries.
"We actually made the most we ever made with it," Hullender said. "That definitely gave us a positive boost going into luminaries."
Some 43,000 candles are expected to be sold in the Light-A-Luminary fundraiser.
"That's a lot of candles. When the truck came with all the kits we were like, 'Where are we going to put all of these until we sell them,' " Hullender said.
And then the sand arrived from a donor.
"We have this mountain of sand in a trailer out in our parking lot," Hullender said.
That's when the volunteer army began to show up and show its support for the cause.
They came from Durham Academy, a Boy Scout earning badge hours and his parents, neighborhood leaders, civic-minded folks from Raleigh and Smith Middle School students. Candles are being put into kits and sand is being bagged.
"It's just about supporting these families that are going through one of the worst things that you can imagine," Hullender said of the motivation for volunteers to come out and help so that strangers with medical needs can be served.
"We couldn't do it without the many, many volunteers," she said.
A substantial portion of the candle kits are being sold to various neighborhoods around the Triangle. Each neighborhood has a coordinator who organizes the community's luminaria efforts.
"Each neighborhood does it a little differently," Hullender said. "A lot of the neighborhood coordinators have actually cooked a meal or volunteered at the house" so they can go back and tell their neighbors what a worthy cause the luminary fundraiser is.
Dec. 12 is the designated lighting, though some neighborhoods choose other nights.
In addition to the individual lightings, there will be a community lighting at Fearrington Village in Pittsboro from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday. That event will feature holiday music courtesy of Gary Mitchell, hot apple cider and baked goods. The event is free and open to the entire family.
The Ronald McDonald House of Chapel Hill has 29 hotel-style guest rooms and provides a "home away from home" for families of children who are receiving health care at area hospitals.
"The House offers physical comfort and emotional support through programs dedicated to the well being of the whole family," a news release about the fundraiser said.
The House receives 7 percent of its funds from the support of McDonald's. The remaining 93 percent is received from money raised through corporate and individual donations and special events such as the Light-A-Luminary project, according to the release.
TO GET A KIT
For more information on the 17th annual Light-A-Luminary project or to purchase a luminaria kit, contact Elizabeth Hullender at (919) 913-2040 or just stop by the Ronald McDonald House, located at 101 Old Mason Road in Chapel Hill.
