Ronald McDonald House 2023 Superkids Campaign raises money for families in need

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - It's devastating news for a parent to find out their child has a life-threatening illness.

It can often mean being away from home and costly medical bills. A local organization is taking some of the stress away by providing food and a place to stay.

Sayantani and Barthadey Sarkar are thankful for their 6-year-old daughter, Joyee. 

"She needed her first surgery less than 24 hours old," shared Sayantani. "And then she was there in the hospital for, as I'm saying, for three months." 

Joyee suffers from Esophageal Atresia, a rare birth defect in which a baby is born without part of the esophagus. 

Joyee a rare birth defect and had her first surgery at less than a day old.

"When kids are born that way, her gastric contents would go into her lungs, making her very sick," Sayantani said. 

The Sarkars are from Chicago and came for medical treatment at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg. They needed a place to stay and found out about, Ronald McDonald House.

They provide free food and housing for families in situations just like this.

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"No family expects to be in the situation where they have a child that came early or is sick," explained Joe Citro, Director of Development and Marketing at All McDonald's Charities. "And our goal always will be to be a resource for those families to be kind of a safe haven for them during a really challenging time." 

Right now the Ronald McDonald House has a 2023 Superkids Campaign to raise money to support the families. 

"We really need the community to be superheroes for our super families, to support them, to support us as they go through these really challenging times," said Citro.

The Ronald McDonald House has a 2023 Superkids Campaign.

"It meant home away from home. It's like when so much really demoralizing and distressful things have been happening in the hospital. We come back, and you find this cheerful environment with warm food and people to talk to," Barthadey shared.

The Ronald McDonald House offers peace and comfort for families whose children are hurting & healing. 

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In the last 43 years they've helped more than 50 thousands families. There are four houses here in Tampa Bay, three in St. Petersburg and one in Tampa. 

If you would like to help out the Ronald McDonald House click here.