Ronald McDonald House unveils showcase revamp

Richard Tedesco

It was a full house at the Ronald McDonald House of Long Island last Thursday night as the designer makeover of the facility’s original 18 bedrooms and several common rooms of the facility was unveiled.

The 26 designers who transformed the bedrooms into showcases were there to meet and greet those who paid $250 a piece to attend the debut of Project Design 2013, which did double duty as a gala fundraiser.

“Everybody went way beyond what I would have expected,” said Anthony Baratta, who originally designed the house and oversaw the makeover. “Every room is unique. There’s something for everyone here.”

The designers along with contractors donated an estimated $3 million in time and materials, according to Matthew Campo, executive director of the Ronald McDonald House. “It turned out great. It looks wonderful.” 

The redesign of the rooms began in March followed by construction starting in August.

Located on the campus of the Steven and Alexandra Cohen Children’s Medical Center in New Hyde Park, the Ronald McDonald House provides temporary housing for families with children suffering with catastrophic illnesses. Approximately 80 percent of the children of families who stay at the house are being treated at the Cohen Children’s center, with the remainder being treated at other area hospitals.  The house, which was expanded to 40 bedrooms in 2005, has served 18,000 families since its inception.

Jack and Jessica Pierson, who stayed at the house with their family for three weeks 18 months ago while one of their children was treated at Cohen medical center, were impressed by the makeover.

“It is stunning, Jessica Pierson said. “This is a nice respite. It takes you away from what’s going on next door. And families really need that.” 

“I wish I could come back and stay here again without the need to,” her husband added.

Their young daughters, Jocelyn and Kaiya, were visibly taken with the rocking horse and other new additions to the playroom, which now features three large flat-screen TVs equipped with Xboxes. The life-sized playhouse that dominates the common room where families typically congregate each evening also had a makeover, repainted in bright, vibrant colors.

Jack Pierson recalled what the house meant to his family when they stayed there during their daughter’s treatment at the Cohen medical center.

“It became our home and our family,” he said. “It took over for the little things you forget about when you’re focused on your child.”

Among those things is the dinner the house provides its guests each night in the dining area that was also part of the makeover.

Margarite Cevasco said she and Vasi Ypsilantis had worked on the kitchen area, contributing approximately $40,000 of their own money to the project.

“It’s very rewarding. The motivation comes from the use of the space by the families,” Cevasco said. “We can make miracles in a short period of time.”

That dining space and the 18 revamped bedrooms were to be inhabited again on Tuesday by families coping with the serious medical conditions of their children, Campo said. They’ve been housed at local motels while the construction work was done.

The project was the brainchild of Cary Kravet, president of home furnishings company Kravet Inc., who sits on the board of the Cohen Children’s center. 

Baratta had approached him about donating fabric to refurbish furniture in the house built 21 years ago. But, Baratta said, his request sparked a different idea from Kravet.

“I thought it would be a great thing to marry the needs of the community and the talents of the design industry. It’s good to lift this place up,” Kravet said at the gala. “It’s designers trying to project the needs of the consumer. And the consumer is a family in stress.”

Andrew Laufer, chairman of the Ronald McDonald House Board of Directors, called the designer’s work “awe inspiring.”

We are delivering a five-star hotel experience to families at a time in their lives when they’re facing the worst time in their lives,” Laufer said.

One of the bedrooms drawing the most attention at the gala was a New York Mets-themed bedroom designed by Mathew Patrick Smith. The room was festooned with Mets memorabilia, both familiar and obscure, which Smith said be spent “lots of nights and weekends” collecting. 

“I found all this on eBay,” he said.

The Mets bedroom acknowledges of the Flushing-based baseball team, which donates six party suites at Citifield for the use of Ronald McDonald staff to entertain donors each year.

Jennifer Mehditash, one of the designers who donated her time to the project, said all of the suppliers she approached about donating materials readily agreed to help.

Planning will begin on a second phase to revamp the 24 other bedrooms added to the original structure, Campo said. 

Mehditash said she found the work inspiring.

“It transformed every day for me,” she said. “ I actually leave here uplifted every time I leave.” 

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