Helping the Milwaukee Ronald McDonald House.

From the Milwaukee Ronald McDonald House website.

In the early 1980s, a small group of dedicated volunteers set out to build the first Ronald McDonald House in Wisconsin. The need back then was heart-wrenching. Families literally had no place to stay while their seriously ill child was being treated at Children’s Hospital or another Milwaukee hospital. The outpouring of support was remarkable. So much so that when we opened in Wauwatosa in 1984, we called it “the House that love built.” Today we serve families in ways we could have never imagined 25 years ago. During our early years, it was typical for guest families to spend a few nights, perhaps a week with us. Our 25 bedrooms proved sufficient for awhile. Then, over time, medical advances, the kind that save the lives of children who would not have been saved two decades ago, began requiring extended treatments. Yet doctors and nurses told us their young patients showed the best signs of healing when they could spend time away from hospital rooms in a more homelike setting surrounded by family. To accommodate these families, we expanded the House, adding an extended stay wing with 13 two-room units. We also renovated the existing House so that every family staying with us could have a private bathroom, a small amenity it may seem, but one that means a great deal to our guest families. These renovations have continued to make our House the best “home-away-from-home” it can be. Since the House opened in 1984, over 31,000 families from 568 Wisconsin communities, 48 states and 26 foreign countries have stayed at our Ronald McDonald House. These families are facing the worst crisis of their lives. Their child is seriously ill, and their lives are turned upside down. We may just be the only bright spot in their entire day and we take that responsibility to heart. We are a home-away-from-home, a place where kids can just be kids, and parents can lean on each other.

In October 2010 we had the honor of working with them. We were contacted by a representative about doing a display for a 6 year old boy that was staying at the Ronald McDonald House. Of course we said we would be glad to. After some phone calls back and forth we were set to do it, until we heard the weather forecast for the week.

The meteorologists were saying we could expect wind gusts up to 70mph. The stands we use for our displays can't handle wind that strong so we decided that we couldn't set the display up outdoors. We asked if it would be possible to put the display up somewhere indoors. After some consultations with other people at the House the rep let us know that they were having some sort of get together and didn't think that an indoor display would work for them. So it looked like we weren't going to be able to do the display.

A couple of days later we heard from the rep again, she wanted to know if we could do the display on a certain day (the little boy had gone out of town and was coming back that day and the Mom really wanted the sign for the little guy). Fortunately we were picking up the display they wanted on that day. So we could put it up right after we picked it up from the customer that had it. The little boy absolutely loved the sign! His Mom was thrilled we were able to do it for them too.

Helping the Milwaukee Ronald McDonald House was a really great experience. It is definitely something that we will do again if they want!!!

Lawn Greetings going strong in tough economic times.

We have all heard on the news how bad the economy is and maybe even some of you have been affected by it but there are some industries that are still enjoying growth. One of those is the Lawn Greeting industry. The Lawn Greetings industry is defined as small businesses which help their customers celebrate various occasions and events by renting displays that are set up in a recipient’s yard. The displays vary greatly from giant wooden character signs and small "critter" signs, as they are referred to in the industry, to a wide array of elements for decorating a front yard such as 3D plastic or 2D wood and coroplast characters/shapes that include from the most popular, plastic pink flamingos, to the more obscure, plastic cows or over the hill themes, to the more traditional, stork signs for announcing births.

A recent discussion on the Lawn Greeting Association forums shows that the industry is still growing despite the economic downturn. Seven of the eight companies that commented on the discussion said that they were pleased with the number of deliveries they were doing. Tom of Special-Delivery 4 U in Muskego, Wisconsin mentioned seeing a 25% growth in sales for May compared to May 2008 with an additional 20% in June 2009. Janice of Front Yard Friends in Chesapeake, Virgina said "We had 30 yards in one night plus all of the pick ups from the night before ( 22). I honestly don't remember doing that many before but maybe we did." Cindi from Coastal Yard Cards in Sussex County, Delaware reports a 50% increase in sales for the month of June 2009 compared to last year at the same time. She thinks a new improved website helped with sales traffic. "A good web presence and search engine results are a key factor to getting your business out to the public". Cindi also says that while it is difficult in her area to spread the word about Lawn Greetings due to being the only business of it's kind in more than half of the state, she thinks once people actually see what Coastal Yard Cards offers, they absolutely love it and want to order a rental for their next occasion !

Not only is the industry seeing record sales, there are new companies starting up. Cheryl of Monkey In My Pocket Designs Yard Celebrations in Dutchess County, New York said "I have only been open for about a month so I don't have any of last year's figures to compare but I rented out 26 displays for May and I already have 32 orders for the month of June."

Even companies that specialize in birth announcements are doing well according to Amy of Special Deliveries in Pleasanton, California. She says "I am busier than I have ever been before. I don't have numbers, but for the last couple of months I have been doing 2-3 rentals a week (all mine are 1 week rentals)."

There are a little more than 840,000 people celebrating a birthday everyday of the year in the United States. In addition to that there are anniversaries, engagements, weddings, births & graduations throughout the year. Each one of those special occasions is a chance for a Lawn Greeting company to rent a display. It's really no wonder why the Lawn Greeting industry is still going strong and even growing in these tough economic times.