A Home That Welcomes All Families

San Diego Woman’s Club members in front of the Ronald McDonald House Charities of San Diego North House. President Sandy Luebben is at right.

The Feeling of Family

When Sandy Luebben first visited our Ronald McDonald House in 2015, she was struck by the feeling of family. She saw families gathered together for meals, and parents and children relaxing on comfy sofas after time at the hospital.

Sandy learned families at the House enjoyed three hot meals daily at no charge. But they also could prepare their own favorite meals at private cooking stations, with access to personal refrigerators. “It didn’t feel like an institution,” Sandy recalls. “It felt like a home.”

A member and current president of the San Diego Woman’s Club, Sandy knew her club had donated to the House for several years. Members felt a bond with women and mothers who come here to recharge while caring for their hospitalized child.

family in dining room — Family time in our dining room

They recognized the impact a major gift could have for these families. So the Club became annual Giving Circle members at the “Adopt-A-Room” level. Their generous gift helped six families stay fourteen days and nights in their own private rooms. The children could attend the onsite TK-12 school, and they had everything they needed to feel at home.

The onsite “School Away from School”, educating TK-12 in partnership with San Diego Unified School District

A Personal Commitment

Sandy and her husband, Richard, shared the Club’s commitment to helping others. For years they made charitable IRA tax-free gifts. “By giving directly from our individual retirement account to a charity, we could donate even more to favorite causes,” says Sandy.

After Sandy’s husband passed away in early 2019, she wanted to continue their tradition of IRA giving. “We saw firsthand that donations to the House were well-spent,” Sandy remembers. “Any family of any means could have a need to use San Diego’s Ronald McDonald House.” That’s why she chose to make her 2019 charitable IRA gift to the House.

San Diego Woman’s Club prepares Welcome Bags for new families arriving at the House

We’re deeply grateful to Sandy, and to the San Diego Woman’s Club, for their support of mothers, fathers, and all our family guests!

Giving directly from her IRA to a qualified charity allowed Sandy to make a tax-free gift to the House. Individuals who are 70-1/2 years or older can give any amount up to $100,000 per year from their IRA directly to a qualified charity, without having to pay income taxes on the withdrawal.