After learning of the competition, how could we not??

The Ronald McDonald House is very dear to Anna's family. In May 2017, her nephew John Cole was born. At his 24 hour check-up he stopped breathing, seemingly going into seizures, and was quickly transferred to the NICU in a larger hospital in St. Louis, an hour from our family's hometown. After many tests, months, moments of terror later, he was diagnosed with a congenital heart disorder: a second aorta grew around his esophagus and trachea, suffocating and starving the little dude. After diagnosis, he had to wait for surgery to remove the second aorta. After that, and another minor surgery, Lil John is a healthy, happy (as happy as screaming babies get?), little dude

Anna's brother and sister-in-law were so fortunate for the Ronald McDonald house, with the many GIGANTIC stressors, at least paying for gas or a hotel or sleeping constantly in a hospital chair were alleviated. Our family is forever grateful, so why not build a house??