 |
Keith Swarts outside the Ronald McDonald House. |
Diez, owner of the McDonald’s in Council Bluffs, should know.
He worked alongside UNMC’s Director of Business Services to bring the Ronald McDonald House to Omaha 10 years ago. The pair was formally recognized during an anniversary celebration earlier this year at the Ronald McDonald House. Swarts also was recognized Tuesday during a UNMC Administrative Roundtable meeting.
“Keith and Tony are heroes,” said Kevin Warneke, executive director of the Ronald McDonald House. “They were on a mission to bring a Ronald McDonald House to Omaha – and the home at 620 S. 38th Ave. is a testimony to their diligence and devotion. Because of them, the Ronald McDonald House has been helping families with sick children for 10 years.”
The Omaha Ronald McDonald House – the 159th such house to be built in the country — opened in September 1994. Since then, the Ronald McDonald House has served nearly 1,000 families that have come from 44 states and seven countries.
“This is probably one of my greatest projects because of the families we’ve helped,” Swarts said. “We didn’t have enough places for families to stay and had had a family sleeping in their car in the parking garage. I’ll always remember the day we opened the Ronald McDonald House and families moved in.”
During the planning phase, Swarts attended one of the initial meetings on behalf of UNMC, then worked closely with Diez during a feasibility study to determine where a Ronald McDonald House should be in Omaha.
When the process was complete, Swarts decided to stick with the project. “Keith took a liking to the program,” Diez said. “The more he learned, the more he became excited about the project and took it under his wing.”
They formed a board with Swarts enlisting the help of other UNMC employees and community volunteers. “He knows everyone and everyone likes him,” Diez said.
The two also traveled to Kansas City to visit a Ronald McDonald House. “We could smell spaghetti cooking on the stove,” he said. “That’s when we knew that Ronald McDonald Houses are really home. That’s when Keith became even more enamored with the program.”
When it was time to pick a board president, Swarts and Diez drew straws until Diez’s name came up. “Keith would have been a great president,” Diez said. “He just chooses to be behind the scenes. There would be no Ronald McDonald House without him.”