Dieter Frego and Tanja Meiser are still active in their function – and after nine years the club has again handed over stuffed lions to the Ronald McDonald House. This time with this year’s President of the Lions Club, Professor Berthold Seitz.
According to Seitz, the Ronald McDonald House was another facility where parents of sick children can find a temporary home. With the donation of the 250 stuffed lions worth over 10,000 euros, the Lions Club wants to make a contribution to making things a little better for sick children.
“Every child who comes to us now gets a lion,” says Tanja Meiser, who is happy about the nice donation. However, the donation will probably only be enough for one year, because the children are allowed to take the lion home with them. “You are given the lion here as a comfort and companion, he can also go to the clinic for the examinations,” emphasizes Tanja Meiser, “if this is hygienically permitted.” Of course, the lions come from a well-known German plush toy manufacturer , are first washed, dried and then handed over to the children.
The lion is also a “strong friend by your side”, says Tanja Meiser, “and is an important companion for a long time, during the often very long stays in the children’s hospital.
Since 2005, the Ronald McDonald House in Homburg has been a temporary home for families whose seriously ill children are being treated at the Saarland University Hospital. Every year around 230 families take advantage of one of the 14 apartments and can therefore stay close to their children.
The McDonald’s Children’s Aid Foundation, which has been committed to the health and well-being of children in Germany since 1987, is the sponsor of this facility. In addition to 23 Ronald McDonald Houses, the non-profit organization runs six Ronald McDonald Oases in the middle of the clinic for outpatients and their relatives throughout Germany.
A spacious kitchen, a reading room, a corner fireplace and a play paradise for the children offer families relaxation and security close to their sick protégés. Many children are in treatment for months.