(OCC officers Tina Rich and Justin Carroll deliver 150 bottles of laundry detergent to help families at Ronald McDonald House in OKC)
Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) Transportation Division Enforcement Officers with the Love County Port of Entry (LPOE) organized a local drive to benefit families staying at The Ronald McDonald House in Oklahoma City.
LPOE Motor Vehicle Enforcement Officer Tina Rich has a special connection to The Ronald McDonald House because of the heart-wrenching experience surrounding the premature birth of her grandson. While on vacation in Florida, Rich’s daughter experienced early labor and delivery of the little boy.
“The stress on my daughter, on our family was overwhelming,” Rich said. “The Ronald McDonald House was a saving grace as we navigated through it all.”
Rich says her daughter was able to stay close to her grandson throughout the critical mother and child bonding period because of the charity. “She was able to bring him home to Oklahoma after his four-week hospitalization and he is now healthy and thriving,” Rich said.
Because of the experience, Rich learned firsthand the benefit of The Ronald McDonald House for families who find themselves in similar issues of potential separation.
For many parents, a hospitalized child means they are displaced from both work and home for weeks or months at a time resulting in tremendous financial stress on top of the mental anguish. The Ronald McDonald House provides families a place to stay when their child must remain in or near a hospital for treatment.
To recognize and honor the aid and comfort her family received from The Ronald McDonald House, Rich and her fellow officers collected bottles of laundry detergent to help relieve one financial stressor for families of hospitalized children. The officers gave 150 bottles of laundry detergent to families staying at The Ronald McDonald House in Oklahoma City along with additional bottles for the charity to use.
In appreciation, The Ronald McDonald House asked the officers to give a video “shout out” to the Oklahoma City facility. The officers were only too happy to oblige.
“I’m very proud of our officers and the work they do,” said OCC Transportation Division Director Paul Swigart. “So many of our officers have a servant’s heart. They honor and exemplify what it means to be a public servant by working every day to keep the driving public safer on our state highways and bridges. To quote our Director of Administration Brandy Wreath, this is one way our agency ‘touches the lives of every Oklahoman every single day.’”
Source: OCC release