For the past month, Lana and Matthew Pelly have spent their days between the hospital and the Ronald McDonald House in Saskatoon.
Their son Zack, 8, is in the hospital and instead of spending Christmas at their home in Yorkton, Sask., the family will be spending it at the Ronald McDonald House.
“It feels just like as if we’re at home here,” Lana said.
Zack was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in April 2016. In the middle of November, he relapsed and is currently undergoing chemotherapy.
The Pelly family said they’re thankful for the staff at the Ronald McDonald House and estimate in total, they’ve spent upwards of five months at the facility.
“Everything (Zack’s) been put through, I tell you he’s a strong kid, very strong. He never complains,” Lana said.
The house is busy during the holidays with many festive activities, such as a Christmas present room for families to choose from, and a visit from Santa on Christmas day.
“It is really a bustle of activity,” Tammy Forrester, the CEO of Ronald McDonald House Charities Saskatchewan, said.
Forrester said the Home for Dinner program — where volunteer groups prepare a home-cooked meal for families staying at the house — is planned nearly every day leading up to Christmas.
“People would prefer to be at home with their own families, but we do make sure that we’ve got lots of meals prepared for them, so they don’t have to think about that,” Forrester said.
Any Saskatchewan family, with children 18 years or under receiving medical treatment in Saskatoon, is welcome to stay at the home at a cost of $10 a night.
Over the past two months, the 34-room house has been fully occupied.
“It’s when they come back to the house, and they’re sitting at the table and they’re dining together, they’re having a cup of coffee in the evening and they have that place where they can let things go,” Forrester said.
“You look at your situation and you talk to another family and it helps support one another,” Lana said.
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