Good News York by Growth Mode Content - GNY EP.194 | feat. Beth Trunfio, CEO of Ronald McDonald House CNY

Episode Date: July 1, 2026

Ronald McDonald House Central New York: Supporting Families & Christmas in July Host Noah Chrysler interviews Beth Trunfio, president and CEO of Ronald McDonald House Central New York, about how the organization removes barriers for families with hospitalized children by providing a free home-like stay with amenities such as beds, home-cooked meals, shuttle support, and community among other families, serving those coming from across New York State and beyond for care at Syracuse hospitals like Crouse Hospital’s Level IV NICU and Golisano Children’s Hospital. Beth explains families are referred through hospital providers and social workers, and shares how arriving families often feel immediate relief and support. She highlights the “Christmas in July” donation drive on Thursday, July 23 (10 a.m.–4 p.m.) and throughout July, including drop-offs and an Amazon wishlist, plus gift cards and practical items. Beth also notes a refreshed brand look, partner programs like a Crouse hospitality cart, volunteer opportunities, and tells a story likening the House’s support to holding an umbrella in a rainstorm. 00:00 Welcome and Introductions 00:25 What Ronald McDonald House Does 01:55 How Families Stay and Get Support 03:30 The Emotional Impact for Families 05:07 How Referrals Work 05:46 Christmas in July Drive 07:21 Drop-Off Details and Website 08:34 Rebrand and New Programs 09:17 A Story That Sticks 11:45 How to Volunteer and Get Involved 12:40 Closing and Sponsor Shoutouts

All right. Ladies and General, welcome to Good News York. My name is Noah Chrysler. Today, my guest is Beth. Beth, welcome to the show. Thank you. So happy to be here. Go ahead and introduce yourself quick. Yes. I'm Beth Trumphio. I'm the president and CEO of Ronald McDonald's House Central New York. Beautiful. Awesome. For those of us who do not know much about Ronald McDonald's, what is Ronald McDonald's House? What is Ronald McDonald's House? And, yeah, I was understand. I think the best way to describe who we are and what we do is we're an organization that provides essential services. to families. We remove barriers so that families can focus on the health and well-being of their children who are here at our local hospitals, travel from throughout New York State, and we allow them to really focus on their health care journey, remove those barriers, the cost, the understanding of, you know,

how to navigate the area. There's shuttle services, home-cooked meals, and really that camaraderie with other families who are going through something similar. So support. Gotcha. Okay, cool. So if someone, let's say someone has a child who gets sick and they've come in from like a couple miles away, right?

Central New York, but like they're never really been in. About 20 miles away is the perimeter and further out. Gotcha. So they might come to the hospital. Their child is in the hospital sick for a while, a few weeks, right? And then you guys are helping by paying for certain services and things for the child and then also trying to help them navigate the city and that sort of thing. Is that correct? Close. Okay. Yeah. Help me understand. Yeah. What we do is when we provide essential services, what we provide really is a home for them. All the amenities that you would find in your own home, it is free. to stay at the Rana McDonald's House. We're supported by the community, community donations, whether they be monetary or in kind. And then we provide home-cooked meals, a comfortable bed

to stay, the opportunity to relax and rejuvenate while they take a break from the bedside of their sick child. So families come from throughout New York State and sometimes other countries. other states to receive the really incredible and extraordinary medical care that we have here in Syracuse. Whether it be Krause Hospitals, NICU, it is the level four nursery, which means that it is the highest level of care for premature babies. Sometimes high-risk moms will stay with us prior to delivery, and then the Galasano Children's Hospital and all of their related pediatric clinics. So it's really that opportunity to provide for these families, everything that they might need or have in their own home, while also keeping that family together. So we care for the entire

family. Oh, beautiful. Well, that's wonderful. What is that like? What is it like when, you know, some of these families who are probably dealing with some of the hardest times in their life. You know, a sick kid is a nightmare. It's an awful experience to go through, I would imagine. What is it like when they, you know, get that moment of reprive, when they get to stay at the Ronald McDonald's House? It truly is an unthinkable time, as you said. You are, sometimes it's unknown, what the, you know, what the health care journey is going to be. Sometimes it is a chronic illness. Sometimes it's an emergent situation. So when families arrive, they are so uncertain.

They are in really a state of crisis. And they are welcomed by our staff, our volunteers. And you can almost see immediately, I was speaking with our guest services associate who is the person who often is the first to greet them. And as she is getting to know them and checking them into the Ronne McDonald House and then just takes them on a little tour through the first floor, she said to me recently, she said, I can almost see them take a deep breath and realize that all of their needs are going to be cared for and that the rest of the journey at the hospital, we will be there to support them

and be a part of that journey. Wonderful. Oh, well, that's great. How does one, if someone needs your guys' services or is curious, is there a way that they can apply for these services? So all of the families are referred from the local health care providers, typically the social workers in the hospitals or the clinic. that they're being treated.

Sometimes they know before they're coming because they're a planned surgery or treatment and we will get a call in advance. And then sometimes it is an emergent situation where they'll give us a call. But typically it's through the hospital health care providers and social workers. Gotcha. Cool. I hear that you guys have an event coming up. It's called Christmas in July.

You gave me this cool flyer here. There's a snowman on it and a candy cane. Can you tell me about Christmas in July? Yes. I mentioned that we take care of families and we do that with the community support. So Christmas in July is an opportunity for the community businesses, organizations, individuals, Girl Scout troops to get out and help us by collecting wish list items. We have that wish list available on our website and they are games and toys and books, but there's also practical. items, foods, snacks, grab and go items. A lot of times our families will be grabbing a granola bar or packing a little lunch and heading up to the hospital for the day. We'll have, we have movie nights for the families. We do board games. So opportunity for the community to get involved and support the Ronald McDonald House and help us take care of the families who come to our community.

Wonderful. Yeah, there's some cool stuff on here. I see Pop-Tarts. I haven't a pop tart in a very long time. That's very popular. Yeah, cool. So basically, to really, you know, bring this top of mind here. So basically these are items that people donate. They stay at the Ronald McDonald's house, right? When somebody's got a sick kid who's in the hospital, right? They're getting referred by a social worker to you guys. They're staying at the Ronald McDonald house. And then they're basically staying there for a time and these items can help them feel more at home is basically, yeah? That's exactly it. Yes. Cool. Got it. Beautiful. So Christmas is July, this is held on Thursday.

So what is this event actually like? People. Yeah, all day long, individuals, what you've collected, again, all of those, you know, items that are on the list, gift cards to grocery stores. So we can buy, you know, special items for the families that they might need, produce and those kinds of things. You can just drop them off during the day. And we are set up with the holiday spirit. We have volunteers that will be meeting and greeting the generous folks who pop in. And if people can't make it that day, they are certainly welcome to stop in anytime during the month

or order from Amazon and it gets sent directly to us. Awesome. Awesome. Thursday, July 23rd from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Or they can drop it off at any time throughout the month of July or probably later as well. And then there's also an Amazon wish list here. Beautiful. Where can people go to learn more information specifically about Christmas in July?

They can go to www. www. Rana MacDonald MacDonald House, C-N-Y.org. Beautiful. Okay, great. Beth, thank you so much. Is there things that you guys mentioned that you're also doing a rebrand, right? So people who might have been aware of the Ronald McDonald House years ago, you know, you guys have a new look.

Can you tell us about that a little bit? Yeah, just a new refreshed look and logo, but our mission has remained. the same. We're committed to caring for families and the way that we talked about today and continuing to support programs, not just in our house, the Ronald McDonald House, but some of our new partner programs that we have at Krause Hospital, our hospitality cart that brings our hospitality to the bedside of patient families there as well. Oh, cool. Wonderful. I got one more question. Do you have any specific stories? stick out to you. You're the president. How long have you been doing this?

27 years? 27 years. Okay. During those 27 years, do you have any specific stories that kind of stick out in your mind is like this was very meaningful? I have so many, and I think the theme resonates, but most recently we had a mom who was here, mom and dad, two sisters when their baby was born. and they were with us for an extended period of time during one of their daughter's birthdays, the sibling, during the holiday time, and we're able to have that birthday party, you know, sit down in front of the Christmas tree in our living room and have gifts. But what the mom said when she just said,

and when she described how she felt, I thought, was really spoke to how families feel. And she said that it's, and I'm paraphrasing, when you walk out into a rainstorm and someone hand you an umbrella, what the Ronald McDonald House does is they pop and open and they hold it over you. and she said that's how she felt fully supported and sheltered and cared for. Oh, wonderful. Well, that's awesome. Yeah, I can only imagine. I mean, having a sick kid and then a birthday and I don't know.

That's awesome. That's a wonderful story. Thank you very much for sharing that. I appreciate it. And thank you so much for coming on and telling us about Christmas in July and the new rebrand and the Ronald McDonald's house in general. Honestly, I didn't know very much about it, which might be obvious because I'm asking. all of these basic questions, but I appreciate your time, Beth. Thank you for coming on.

You're welcome. I think people know who we are. They recognize our name. Oftentimes, you don't really understand exactly what you do until you know someone who has had to utilize the services or you have yourself. But we are grateful for the opportunity to be here, grateful to the community for supporting families in crisis and helping us provide that opened umbrella Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, beautiful. Is there any other things that you want to plug, promote URLs? Where can people find more information? Yeah, you can find information on our website. Again, www.Ronel McDonald's, CMI.org. And you can learn how to volunteer and join our family and support families, how to get involved with our events.

and either on a committee, we have a Red Shoe Society that is young professionals. We also have a youth advisory board that are students from local area high schools. So no matter your age or where you are in your life, whether you're currently employed or you're retired, there are opportunities to get involved in help us help families. beautiful wonderful well great thank you so much for coming on beth appreciate your time and thank you guys you guys this is a show good news york is put on by clickstream studios if you run a business here in central new york and you are looking for help with your social media strategy you don't know what to post you don't know where to post it you can visit call that clickstream studios dot com and

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