• Posted: November 30, 2020
• better communities

As the presenting sponsor for the City of Chicago’s Christmas Tree in Millennium Park, we know well the potential of a stunning holiday lights display to brighten the spirits of all who see it. That’s why this holiday season, we’re launching a campaign asking for Chicagoans to submit photos of their own holiday lights displays that we’ll be sharing with Ronald McDonald House Charities of Chicagoland & Northwest Indiana (RMHC-CNI) throughout the month of December to brighten the holiday season for families with hospitalized children. 

From December 1 through December 21, we’re asking anyone with a holiday lights display they’re proud of to take a picture of it, post it on Facebook and include the hashtags #HolidayLightsChi and #PoweringChicago. Throughout the month, we’ll periodically pick a few of our favorites, repost them on the Powering Chicago Facebook page, and share them with RMHC-CNI. RMHC-CNI will then display them on digital boards in the lobbies of each of the Ronald McDonald Houses in the City of Chicago & suburban Cook County, where families will get to enjoy them as they come and go from the hospital each day. Throughout the campaign, we’ll share photos of the digital boards at Ronald McDonald Houses so that those who have submitted photos can see whether their holiday lights were selected. 

Here are step-by-step instructions for how to submit a photo: 

1. Take a compelling photo of the holiday lights you’ve installed at home – whether inside or outside
2. Log into Facebook and/or navigate to the home page/news feed
3. Where it says “What’s on your mind, [NAME]?” write a few words of encouragement for Ronald McDonald House families and include the #HolidayLightsChi and #PoweringChicago hashtags 
4. Upload the photo of your holiday lights display with the post by clicking the photo/video icon under your message of support 
5. Make sure the privacy settings on the post are set to public by clicking the dropdown menu under your name and clicking “Public.” This is an important step, since we won’t be able to see your photo and message of support otherwise. 
6. Click “Post” 
7. Follow the Powering Chicago Facebook page for updates throughout the campaign

To kick-off the campaign, we’re committing $10,000 to RMHC-CNI that is being matched dollar-for-dollar by an RMHC-CNI funder in honor of Giving Tuesday. We made this donation because it will help the organization ease the burden for families in need of support, enabling them to get better together. But with your help, the unionized electrical industry can do even more to light up the holidays for Ronald McDonald House families. 

Ronald McDonald House Charities of Chicagoland & Northwest Indiana keeps 162 families close to the care and resources they need through five area Ronald McDonald Houses and three Ronald McDonald Family Rooms. Enabling families to stay close to their hospitalized child supports the health and well-being of the child and saves families more than $9 million in hotel and food costs each year. RMHC-CNI houses are located near Advocate Children’s Hospital, Loyola University Medical Center, UChicago Medicine Comer Children’s Hospital, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Edward Hospital in Naperville and Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Hospital. The Charity also operates the Ronald McDonald Care Mobile program, providing medical care to children in underserved areas.

Cook County’s unionized electrical industry has long supported RMHC-CNI’s mission as part of its commitment to better communities in metro Chicago, most recently by making a donation to help the organization avoid potential budget cuts necessitated by the pandemic and providing financial support and electrical work to restore one of the organization’s houses following extensive damage caused by a burst pipe.

To learn more about RMHC-CNI, please visit their website.