Get your red shoes out! The Ronald McDonald House of Arkoma are hosting their inaugural Red Shoe Soiree at 7 p.m. at 21c Museum Hotel. The mix and mingle event is to raise money for the Ronald McDonald family room inside Mercy Hospital, in Rogers. Stephanie Medford, executive director of The Ronald McDonald House of Arkoma told 5News that 73 percent of parents stay bedside somewhere in the hospital when their child is ill. By providing a place at the hospital already, it takes some stress off of the hospital staff and waiting room to let them live with us while their child is being treated, Medford said.
The swanky event follows a similar event in Fort Smith, the Red Shoe Shindig, where the money from that night was able to sustain a family for an entire year. The goal for tonight is raise $45,000, which should cover a little less than half of the annual cost of the family room. Tickets are $75 each, all of which goes towards the family room. Live music will be performed in a piano bar style by Patrick Hall, who was on American Idol, Season 5.
They will also be presenting their first award, called the Taylor McKeen Shelton award, who died of Sudden Unexplained Death of a Child (SUDC). The award will go to the Matthews family, who are local McDonald's owners and operators and founders of the charity since 1999.
The high end affair is sold out, however they are hoping to make it an annual event.