The Key to Their Welcome Home: ADPi at McDazzle

 One Wednesday night when I was cooking dinner with a group of ADPi’s at the Ronald McDonald House, a little girl whose family was staying at the house walked into the kitchen, saw that we were serving ribs, and lit up. They were just like the ones at her real home, she told us. She was far from that home, her family was in the middle of something frightening, and that simple plate of ribs gave her a few minutes of normalcy. That moment is why I committed to serving as University of Kentucky Alpha Delta Pi's Ronald McDonald House Chair, and it's why I worked so hard to ensure that the biggest night of our philanthropy year, the McDazzle Gala, was perfect.

My goal as RMH Chair has been to create opportunities for every member of ADPi to find joy in serving others. Enthusiasm was never our problem, but our chapter’s availability is limited by busy schedules, demanding coursework, and extensive extracurricular involvement, so a single weekly dinner shift only fits so many. So I widened the breadth of ways to contribute: baking on the weekends alongside our dinner shifts, staffing the hospital family room, hosting tie-blanket nights for the families at the house, and forming a “Round Up Committee” to support RMH staff.

On the evening of October 9th, the Central Bank Center filled with guests for the 24th McDazzle, the biggest in the event's history. This year's theme, "Together We Are The Key To Their Welcome Home," emphasized the organization's current focus to raise money to expand the Lexington house with 21 rooms to an additional house holding 65 rooms. There was a silent auction, a live auction, bourbon barrel picks, a basketball signed by Coach Pope's team, and a Riley Green guitar. By the end of the night, the event had raised over $640,000, more than 30% of RMH's yearly fundraising total.

My job was to select, organize, and train all of the ADPi volunteers who would make McDazzle run smoothly. When I sent out a call for volunteers, more than 100 members applied. In the end, I selected 40 servant leaders and built the roles around their strengths. I had captains leading the silent auction, ushers, wayfinders escorting guests, greeters, and photographers. During the "Let Love Grow" general appeal, every one of the 40 volunteers moved through the audience with flowers, confirming donations as quickly as hands went up.

ADPi has supported Ronald McDonald House since 1979, and I'm proud to be one small link in that chain. Watching my sisters serve our community with big smiles, I was reminded that ADPi is not a chapter that simply volunteers. ADPi is a chapter that finds joy in service and is capable of making a true and lasting impact.

- Katie Neglia AC’24 (RMH Chair)