The Ronald McDonald House is known for helping those in need. This Monday, it will receive help of its own.
Triple-C System, a cleaning service based in Citrus Springs, Florida, will drive over an hour Monday to clean the North Central Florida location for free.
For Brian Crain, the owner and operator of Triple-C System, this is not the first time he has given back. For the last few years, he and his team have also cleaned the Ronald McDonald House in St. Petersburg at no cost.
“This was a nationwide thing,” Crain said. “A lot of cleaners have been doing this and giving back, and I just felt the urgency to reach out on my own.”
Crain reached out to the Gainesville house at 1600 SW 14 St., which was more than happy to set up an appointment to meet. Crain and his crew of around 15 to 20 people just want to do what they can to help others.
“They’re a good organization,” Crain said. “They're helping people when their kids are sick.”
Sherry Houston, the executive director of the Ronald McDonald House Charities of North Central Florida, remembers when Crain first called her to ask if he could take a look at the 22,000-square-foot house she runs in Gainesville. One afternoon, he stopped by and inspected its tile floors.
“No matter how many times our floors are mopped and the grout is cleaned, it just looks like a 40-year-old floor,” Houston said.
The house has 31 rooms, all of which are occupied. The average waitlist of families is between 30 to 40 families at all times. As expected, hundreds of people walk across the floors every day, Houston said.
Families are allowed to stay at the Ronald McDonald House from the time they receive a room until their child is discharged, Houston said. The average stay is approximately 48 days, though they also have three short-term rooms for families who only need to stay for a week.
“We just had a family who just left us who were here for 18 months. Their son received a heart, and he is waiting for kidneys now,” Houston said.
The top three diagnoses of children who stay at the house are heart disease, cancer or premature birth, Houston said.
Crain’s team will work all day Monday, starting 10 a.m. and finish around 5 p.m.
“Good things happen in the world,” Houston said, “and it's really nice to see people who are kind, considerate, generous and want to put a smile on people's faces. It's really humbling to be on the receiving end of that.”
