From civil engineer to caregiver wellness guru, Eva Peña discovered that the most powerful volunteerism happens when you offer what you know to serve what matters most. Every Friday at Ronald McDonald House New York, she creates two hours where caregivers—usually invisible in their own crisis—are reminded they matter too.

 There are moments in life when love stops being something that is said out loud and starts becoming something that is done—quietly, instinctively, without hesitation.

For the Bishop family, that moment came not with a grand speech or a dramatic gesture, but with a simple decision from a 13-year-old boy who didn’t need convincing, didn’t need time, and didn’t need to be asked twice.

Every year, more than 400,000 children around the world are diagnosed with pediatric cancer. And suddenly, health is no longer a global conversation. It’s about families. It’s personal.

Ronald McDonald House New York's volunteers are truly the most dedicated in the business. Whether they come once a week to serve meals, assist in the playroom, accompany service animals, or to push the Blavatnik Family Foundation Hospitality Cart near our Family Rooms in hospitals throughout NYC, our volunteers serve our families and local communities with compassion and love. 

Not many people experience a place like Ronald McDonald House New York from both sides of the front door. Fewer still understand it as both a professional partner—referring families in their most vulnerable moments—and as a parent walking through those doors in crisis, searching for stability, rest, and proximity to their child.

Giselle Morales has lived both.

On National Puppy Day we are especially grateful to the volunteers and therapy dogs who make Ronald McDonald House New York feel a little more like home to so many kids and families.

And right in the middle of it all was Marcellus climbing, exploring, carrying 18-wheeler toy trucks bigger than himself from one end of the Family Room to the other while his mother, Natalie, told stories that moved seamlessly between humor, honesty, and hard-earned wisdom.

For families facing pediatric cancer, risk arrives differently. It appears without warning. It reshapes daily life instantly. And it rarely comes with a plan that accounts for everything that follows beyond the hospital walls.

Black History Month is a time to pause and listen. It is a moment to honor history not only through reflection, but through presence. At Ronald McDonald House New York, that presence lives in the voices of Black caregivers whose strength, leadership, and care shape the House every day.

When families are confined to their suites for months at a time, caregiver well-being becomes not optional—but essential. For caregivers, RMH-NY’s Blavatnik Family Foundation Wellness Center continues to provide: