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Kettering volunteer travels the world to show off Ronald McDonald Houses

Barbara MacLeod of Kettering, a longtime volunteer at the local Ronald McDonald House, holds her book “Entering These Doors of Compassion,” about the more than 300 Ronald McDonald houses worldwide. Staff photo by Jan Underwood

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Lance Clack of Sidney reads to his children Lukas, 2, and Natalee, 4, in a sitting room at the Ronald McDonald House on Valley Street. Clack's family is being served by the house, which has been operating for 30 years this month, while his infant daughter Ellee is hospitalized at Children's Medical Center.

Jan Underwood Lance Clack of Sidney reads to his children Lukas, 2, and Natalee, 4, in a sitting room at the Ronald McDonald House on Valley Street. Clack's family is being served by the house, which has been operating for 30 years this month, while his infant daughter Ellee is hospitalized at Children's Medical Center.

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Dayton’s Ronald McDonald House celebrates 30 years of caring

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By Meredith Moss, Staff Writer Updated 6:34 PM Thursday, May 6, 2010

KETTERING — As you might imagine, Ronald McDonald Houses have received many wonderful contributions over the past 35 years.

But it’s hard to envision a more generous or loving gift than the one that came from Barbara MacLeod.

Thanks to the Kettering woman’s commitment and creativity, the library at every Ronald McDonald House in the world proudly displays a large and colorful coffee table book entitled “Ronald McDonald House: Entering These Doors of Compassion.”

It takes two hands for the reader to open the welcoming doors pictured on the cover. Once open, they reveal 300 pages of colorful photos and treasured memories profiling each of the homes in the special network.

At her own expense, MacLeod traveled throughout America and around the world photographing and educating herself about each house. The total number reached 300 in 2010.

“I wanted to do something for all of the houses,” explains MacLeod, who began volunteering at Chicago’s Ronald McDonald House 30 years ago when her husband was diagnosed with cancer and she was seeking an environment where others would understand.

He’s now fine, but the volunteer commitment stuck. When the family moved — first to Toronto, then back to Chicago and eventually to Dayton — MacLeod offered her services to the Ronald McDonald House in each city.

“It immediately feels like family,” says MacLeod, who continues to spend a day each week at Dayton’s Ronald McDonald House.

“People sometimes think it would be sad or depressing, but it’s just the opposite — it’s a happy place, with the most positive atmosphere. It’s very homey and warm, just like home.”

That’s exactly the feeling MacLeod captures throughout her book as she shares memories provided by everyone from house managers to grateful parents to volunteers. Her book, originally published seven years ago, came out in a second edition in 2009.

“I gave each of the home two copies,” says MacLeod, whose charitable foundation underwrote all of the expenses. “It was a way of physically connecting everyone. They can see their own house in the book, then see all of the other houses as well.”

With a letter of introduction from the official folks at Ronald McDonald House Charities, MacLeod and her camera visited houses in cities ranging from Lille, France, and Harlington, Texas, to Helsinki, Finland, and Miskolc, Hungary. Because she didn’t want to interrupt daily routines, she rarely spent more than an hour or so at each location.

“There are no guidelines for the architecture of the houses, so they are all different, ” MacLeod explains. “Some are very modern, some traditional.” Famed architect Frank O. Gehry designed the house for Bad Oeynhausen, Germany. His “Y” design symbolizes a life-affirming, ‘yes.”

MacLeod, who had never traveled by herself before the project, says she can now answer questions about any airport in the world. She wasn’t an experienced writer or photographer when she started, but was inspired by her mission.

One of the things she observed on her travels was that volunteering isn’t as prevalent elsewhere as it is in this country.

“You realize how lucky we are to have such a passion for volunteerism.”

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2440 or mmoss@DaytonDailyNews.com.

“We were treated and cared for like no other place I have ever been. I have come to understand that the Ronald McDonald House is not about just having a bed to sleep in or convenience to a hospital. It’s about healing and caring for the soul for both the patients and their families. It’s about giving someone that has spent all day at a hurt child’s bedside a moment of reprieve and relaxation. It’s about being in a surrounding that feels like a home.”

— From a grateful dad who stayed at the Ronald McDonald House in Springfield, Mo.

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