Ronald McDonald House in Saskatoon has started its reopen plan

After having to downsize due to COVID-19, The Ronald McDonald House in Saskatoon has started phase 1 of its reopen plan.

As of Monday, they have reopened the house to a maximum of 12 families.

“We normally have 34 families in the house, so 12 is certainly not quite 50 per cent yet but, we’re slowly moving toward that 34 family mark, hopefully in the fall,” CEO at Ronald McDonald House Charities Saskatchewan, Tammy Forrester told 650 CKOM’s Brent Loucks on Tuesday.

Forrester says with fewer people in the house they gave it a deep-clean, and did maintenance and upgrades.

“To make sure that when we reopen, the house is in tip-top shape and our sanitization schedules are well in place, and our staff is ready to accept families from a real safe and precautionary perspective,” she said.

With COVID-19 restrictions, they also had to shut down their volunteer program.

“It’s been really hard to not run a Home-for-Dinner program that allows different groups to come in and cook for families. Our staff has stepped up to the plate in that area,” she said.  “But to not have groups and volunteers come into the house, it definitely changes the vibe here a little bit.”

The house is 42,000 square feet and at capacity, can accommodate 34 families. They are reopening based on a four-phase plan.

Ronald McDonald House doesn’t get funding from the provincial government and does rely a lot on fundraising events.

They’ve had to cancel one of their biggest fundraisers – The Red Tie Gala  – which was scheduled for this fall.

Those who would like to donate can do so at rmh.sk.ca.