Damian O'Donnell is heading the fundraising leaderboard for the 2024 CEO Walk In My Shoes event at Ronald McDonald House Charities Central West to be held at the Orange House on March 7 and 8.
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Joining Damian for the 24-hour in-house immersive experience where they will cook meals for and connect with families in the house, are Lan Snowden (Our City Real Estate) Nicola Blore (Kids Tribe), Kirsty Evans (Cheney Suthers Lawyers) and Jessica Wade (Quest Orange) along with Sharon Charlton and Gregor Sammut-Paul from Parkes.
Mr O'Donnell, who is client director of Spinifex Recruiting has a connection to RMHC dating back to 2009 when fund raising was in full swing to build Ronald McDonald House in Orange which opened in 2015.
"I had the opportunity to see firsthand from Geoff and Joanne Lewis at that time how important it was to have a house located close to Orange Hospital. I helped drive a support vehicle for two days in a fundraising walk at that time and was so impressed with the passion to help families in this region," he said.
Every dollar raised through this year's event will stay in Orange to directly support families who have a baby, child or adolescent receiving specialist or life saving care in Orange Hospital. All accommodation for families at the house is provided free of charge.
Lan Snowden said he is also pleased to be taking part.
"Since becoming a father almost two years ago, it has given me a greater appreciation of the importance of Ronald McDonald House in Orange and the incredible work the people do out there," he said.
"As with all parents, the thought of my child being hospitalised terrifies me and if that were to happen, I would want to be at my son's side at every opportunity."
Since RMHC Central West opened its doors in Orange 1416 families have stayed at the house for a total of 11,035 nights free of charge.
The house is run by two staff members and a team of more than 100 volunteers who are part of a 24-7 roster. So far volunteers have contributed 99,005 hours to supporting families in their time of need.
If you would like to support any of our team members for CEO Walk in My Shoes go to: https://www.ceowalkinmyshoes.org.au/
Click on the link for the Central West (Orange) house - go to the page of any of our participants you wish to support and click on the 'donate' button.
