Little burger texts became love notes after this family’s experience at the Ronald McDonald House

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Jon, Lily, Audrey and Gina Teeter wear their Ronald McDonald House Day of Change t-shirts for a family photo about one year after their stay at RMH in Birmingham, Alabama.
Jon, Lily, Gina and Audrey Teeter became fast fans of Ronald McDonald House after their stay in 2024. (Photo courtesy of Gina Teeter)

People say “I love you” in many ways. Receiving hamburger emojis always delights Gina Teeter, especially this month. It has been one year since her daughter’s liver transplant and their family’s stay at the Ronald McDonald House in Birmingham.

The burger texts feel like hugs from friends, letting her know they thought of her family and others like them when rounding up the cost of their McDonald’s orders through Round-Up for RMHC.

Keep reading to learn how your small change at the drive-through window adds up in a huge way to help families.

A long-awaited call + unexpected respite

Diagnosed in 2018 with a critical liver disease, Lily, now 16, was placed on the transplant list for the second time in March of 2023. It then became a matter of hope and patience.

The Teeters’ phone rang early in the morning of January 21, 2024. Gina says while she answered, her husband Jon immediately understood it was the call by her grip on his sleeve.

“You never can mentally prepare to get the call. It was early, and we weren’t out of bed. I just grabbed his shirt and wadded it up in my hands, and held onto it. He just knew.”
Gina Teeter

The next day, the family made the trip from their home in Athens to Children’s of Alabama for Lily’s lifesaving surgery. While thankful for having the biggest challenge behind her, they knew there was much work to be done to help Lily recover.

That’s when a social worker recommended the Ronald McDonald House, just a few blocks from the hospital. Since 1979, it has served families as a second home while their sick or injured children receive medical care.

The Teeter family was able to stay there for about 10 days as Lily regained her strengthβ€”all free of charge.

“The Ronald McDonald House was an environment where I could focus on my daughter. I could focus and relax, which, overall, reduced my anxiety. That is so big for parents.”
Gina Teeter

A place to stay + so much more

Jon, Audrey and Lily Teeter of Athens, Alabama play a card game in their suite during their 2024 stay at the Ronald McDonald House in Birmingham.
The Teeter family shares their story to increase awareness and support for RMHCA to help more families like theirs. (Photo courtesy of RMHCA)

As the Teeters discovered, the time at the Ronald McDonald House meant a lot more than a financial break on a place to stay.

“It’s a wraparound service of care unlike anything else, and that’s what it’s all about. When you have a sick kid, you’ve got a sick family. We are able to treat the whole family with love, care, meals and the whole nine yards.”
Katherine Estes Billmeier, Ronald McDonald House Charities of Alabama President and CEO

Gina shares several aspects that benefited them most:

  • The ability to stay together and support one another
  • A reprieve from daily tasks back home
  • Spaces designed for patient comfort
  • Access to immediate medical assistance
  • A staff that understands unique patient needs

Feeling safe to be a kid again

Lily and Audrey Teeter of Athens, Alabama play pinball at the Ronald McDonald House in Birmingham.
Lily, 16, and Audrey, 14, are as much best friends as they are sisters. (Photo courtesy of RMHCA)

“It was just amazing. I was able to act like a normal teen almost as soon as I was in there. I had a couch and a TV and didn’t have to sit in a bed. I could sit up and get back to my daily things. I was glad to have my family with me. I had a place where I knew I was safe and I knew that I was going to have fun, too.”
Lily Teeter

You read that correctly: Lily said “fun.” She went from walking only a few steps to adding many more every day to dancing in the dining room with her sister. She says the two of them often would duck out of their room to play pinball or watch movies by themselves.

“It made me feel like a kid again. It made me feel like, ‘Hey this is normal.’ Even though I didn’t have the energy that I did before, I was getting back up to it!”
Lily Teeter

How Round-Up for RMHC works

A sign at the drive through of a Decatur, Alabama McDonald's encourages customers to round up their orders to the nearest dollar to benefit Ronald McDonald House Charities.
Signs remind drive-through customers at a McDonald’s to round up their orders for Ronald McDonald House Charities. (Lisa Battles / Bham Now)

Whenever you go to McDonald’s, simply ask to round up your order to the nearest dollar. While that may mean only a few cents extra, look how it added up in 2024:

  • McDonald’s crews + customers raised $1,636,199 through Round-Up for RMHC.
  • That covered 13,010 nights for families at RMHC of Alabama.
  • McDonald’s fundraisers account for 38% of RMHCA’s total of $4.2 million raised.

Community efforts + personal impacts

Steve Johnson, whose company Johnson Partners, Inc. owns and operates 25 McDonald’s locations in North Alabama, says seeing RMHC’s impact makes their participation rewarding for everyone involved.

“We know in McDonald’s we are a big part of the communities where we operate. We are locally owned and operated. Our employees live in the communities. Anything we can do to support causes that are important to our customers and the communities is a big deal to us. … It is one of the best parts of my job.”
Steve Johnson

Billmeier says RMHCA deeply appreciates the 178 McDonald’s stores and communities that directly support the Ronald McDonald House through Round-Up for RMHC and other programs, which include donating:

πŸ™‚ 1 cent per Happy Meal sold
🍟 1 cent per pound of fries sold
☘️ 25 cents for every Shamrock Shake sold

Have you decided what to order? (I got a large order of fries! Yes, I rounded up.)

Learn more about Round-Up for RMHC and other McDonald’s fundraisers on the RMHCA website.

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Lisa Battles
Lisa Battles
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