Photo: Leroy, Noah, Meredith and Amelia Dryden
Carson King is the new spokesperson for the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Iowa and was in Carroll late last week, filming interviews with a local family who were some of the first residents at a new house in Des Moines that opened on Jan. 2, 2020. Board President, Mike Bach, says this is an awareness and fundraising campaign.
Bach points out that these residences are funded solely through these types of fundraising efforts and through local McDonald’s franchise owners. However, the McDonald’s corporation does not provide any monetary support. Noah and Dr. Meredith Dryden both grew up in Carroll and moved back last July to raise their family, which includes two-and-a-half-year-old Leroy and two-month-old Amelia. Noah says that shortly after Amelia was born, a tragic healthcare situation developed.
Noah adds that it was critical and beneficial for them to get into the new house so they could be close to Amelia. And, with Meredith being a breast-feeding mother, she could respond within minutes. Meredith explains that another key aspect of having a home-like atmosphere involved her husband, Noah.
The family spent 21 days at the Ronald McDonald House and Amelia is now home and healthy. Noah says he is doing well and, after three rounds, his chemotherapy treatments are mostly completed. He says although it has been exhausting, they are all glad to see this mostly behind them. He is gaining strength every day and Noah adds that the help they received was instrumental in this outcome, making them lifelong supporters of this particular charity.
Carson King says the team at the Barrett Boesen Foundation got together to brainstorm ways to support this effort.
Of course, King is the face of the new Venmo campaign for the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Iowa and donations can be made through RMH Des Moines on Venmo. The website, listed below, can be accessed for those interested in volunteering or making a donation. Noah and Meredith wanted to stress how fortunate they and their entire family has been to have had access to these facilities, to friendly faces and to have the support from a community away from home. Noah is on the wastewater team at JEO Consulting of Carroll and Meredith is a family physician at the McFarland Clinic. The campaign is made up of five interviews, which will also include the Erin and Kerri McAlexander family of Rockwell City who lost their son, 17-year-old Jacy, to bone cancer in 2018 and Tanner and Tate Lawton of Scranton.
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To donate or volunteer:
Web page: https://rmhdesmoines.org/
Phone: 515-243-2111
