Families stay at our Houses or visit our Family Room seeking respite while dealing with the stress of a ill or injured child. Each one has a different story to tell.  Since Wichita's first Ronald McDonald House opened in 1983, 20,000 families have stayed at our two Houses! 

In March 2007, our 20,000th family came and stayed at one of our Houses.  This was the fifth visit for Victor and Sandra Biurquez.  At least once a month since last October, when their oldest son was diagnosed with cancer, Victor has dropped his wife and son off in Wichita and then made the four-hour drive back to Liberal.  He works for two or three days, then returns to Wichita to pick them up, usually bringing along their other two children.

“At first, we thought we were going to have to sleep in our car,” Sandra related.  Then their doctor told them there was a Ronald McDonald House in Wichita. 

They were not strangers to Ronald McDonald Houses; they had stayed at one before. When Victor, Jr. was born he had been rushed to Kansas City with a rare disorder – a diaphragmatic hernia.  Though this newborn’s chances were slim, he pulled through surgery and began to gain strength. After a month, he was able to go home.

They did not expect any other problems, but five years later the stomach aches and high fevers began. A new diagnosis was made - Victor had a mass in his kidney, a Wilms tumor, and it was cancerous.  The kidney was removed, and he began treatments for stage three cancer.

Victor loves it at the House – he calls it “my house...my home away from home.” Here he can rest when the treatments make him ill or tired, or read books and play with the toys. Sandra likes being able to fix meals for him from the groceries donated to the House.

She misses her other children.  When Victor is not in Wichita for his treatments, he is oftentimes in the hospital in Liberal. It is very hard on Sandra not being with her other children. She sees her precious one-year old daughter growing up without her. Her three-year old son, Jesus, says he wants to be sick so he can spend more time with mom.

Yet, their gratitude is obvious. Victor, Sr. told us, “Ronald McDonald House has helped so much. So much money goes towards the chemo and gas. It helps to have a place to stay that has the comfort of a home.”