Little burger texts became love notes after this family’s experience at the Ronald McDonald House
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![Little burger texts became love notes after this family's experience at the Ronald McDonald House 1 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.](https://i0.wp.com/bhamnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/IMG_0957.jpeg?resize=1200%2C900&quality=89&ssl=1)
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
![Little burger texts became love notes after this family's experience at the Ronald McDonald House 2 A teenager named Lily Teeter holds up both arms in a show of strength during her recovery at Ronald McDonald House in Birmingham, Alabama following.her liver transplant in January 2024.](https://i0.wp.com/bhamnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/IMG_6256.jpeg?resize=900%2C1200&quality=89&ssl=1)
![Little burger texts became love notes after this family's experience at the Ronald McDonald House 3 Lily, Audrey and Gina Teeter, a family from Athens, Alabama, pose together at Ronald McDonald House in 2024 in Birmingham, Alabama.](https://i0.wp.com/bhamnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/IMG_1180-preview.jpeg?resize=900%2C1200&quality=89&ssl=1)
![Little burger texts became love notes after this family's experience at the Ronald McDonald House 4 Lily, Audrey and Gina Teeter, a family from Athens, Alabama, pose together at Ronald McDonald House in 2024 in Birmingham, Alabama.](https://i0.wp.com/bhamnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/IMG_1213.jpeg?resize=1200%2C900&quality=89&ssl=1)
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 strengthβall 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
![Little burger texts became love notes after this family's experience at the Ronald McDonald House 5 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.](https://i0.wp.com/bhamnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/IMG_8413.jpeg?resize=1200%2C900&quality=89&ssl=1)
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
![Little burger texts became love notes after this family's experience at the Ronald McDonald House 6 Lily and Audrey Teeter of Athens, Alabama play pinball at the Ronald McDonald House in Birmingham.](https://i0.wp.com/bhamnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/IMG_8314.jpeg?resize=1200%2C900&quality=89&ssl=1)
“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
![Little burger texts became love notes after this family's experience at the Ronald McDonald House 7 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.](https://i0.wp.com/bhamnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/IMG_9801-2.jpeg?resize=1200%2C900&quality=89&ssl=1)
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
![Little burger texts became love notes after this family's experience at the Ronald McDonald House 8 McDonald's employees in Alabama pose for a photo showing a thank you and special gift delivered for their participation in raising funds through Round-Up for Ronald McDonald House Charities of Alabama.](https://i0.wp.com/bhamnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/DOC-Bham-Hueytown-7637-Mgr-Keisha.jpg?resize=1200%2C900&quality=89&ssl=1)
![Little burger texts became love notes after this family's experience at the Ronald McDonald House 9 McDonald's employees wear and display ball caps, visors, t-shirts with Round-Up for Ronald McDonald House Charities logos behind the counter of a store location.](https://i0.wp.com/bhamnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Leeds-McDs-1K-Club-Winners-Nov-2024.jpg?resize=1200%2C900&quality=89&ssl=1)
![Little burger texts became love notes after this family's experience at the Ronald McDonald House 10 McDonald's employees in Alabama pose for a photo showing a thank you and special gift delivered for their participation in raising funds through Round-Up for Ronald McDonald House Charities of Alabama.](https://i0.wp.com/bhamnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/DOC-Cullman-2nd-Ave-SW-5318-JahylahMgrPaulaGM.jpg?resize=1200%2C675&quality=89&ssl=1)
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:
π 1 cent per Happy Meal sold
π 1 cent per pound of fries sold
βοΈ 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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