Glendover has ties to Ronald McDonald House
Author: Tammy Lane • First Posted: Monday, November 22, 2010
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Second-grader Dalton Brock, whose family is staying at the Ronald McDonald House while he recuperates, talked with the clown himself at Glendover Elementary.
Kids at Glendover Elementary now have a better feel for “1 million” and for how the Ronald McDonald House helps children like them.
In the past 18 months, students have collected about 340,000 aluminum pop tops for the facility, which keeps families together in times of medical need. Their goal is 1 million pop tops, which would weigh about 800 pounds altogether.
The project took on added meaning this fall when second-grader Dalton Brock enrolled at Glendover. Dalton, whose family was from Letcher County, is undergoing therapy at Cardinal Hill Rehabilitation Hospital after sustaining critical injuries in a car accident last February.
“I just love watching him get off the FCPS bus in front of the Ronald McDonald House each afternoon, excited to tell us all about his day at Glendover! He is such a sweetie, and it sounds like Glendover has been the perfect fit for his needs,” said RMH executive director Sarah Warner.
After traumatic brain injuries and multiple surgeries, Dalton has had to learn how to hold his head up and sit up in his wheelchair. His mother, Tammy Brock, is confident he will recover.
“In my heart, I know we’ll get back what we lost,” she said.
For his part, Dalton said it feels “awesome” to be back in school with other kids and life is “great” at the Ronald McDonald House, with its giant playroom and supportive staff.
Brock, who considers the employees and volunteers family now, appreciates all they do for her son.
“They push him and give him the drive. That’s why we want him to be here – to get what he needs,” she said. “The Ronald McDonald House means a great deal to us. We could not have been through all this with Dalton without the house to stay in.”
Ronald McDonald himself visited Glendover the Monday before Thanksgiving to accept the pile of pop tops.
“It helps tremendously because the house is run on donations and charity,” Brock said.
She thanked everyone in the community for their generosity, saying, “They don’t see the children, they don’t know the children – but they have big enough hearts to donate.”
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