Molly Haynes

Year: Freshman

Hometown: Glade Spring, VA

Major: Marketing

Favorite Song: Escape (The Pina Colada Song) by Rupert Holmes

Favorite place to eat on campus: SSC

Molly, you have a unique and personal connection to the Ronald McDonald House Charity. Could you tell your fellow students a little about this special relationship?

My brother, Tanner, was a patient at St. Jude when he was six years old. During his treatments at St. Jude, my family got to stay at the Ronald McDonald House. Some of my fondest memories of my brother are of us playing power rangers or Pretty Pretty Princess together in The Ronald McDonald house. (He would always play Pretty Pretty Princess with me because he knew that it would make me happy.) I was four years old during this stay so I honestly don’t remember a lot, but I remember the love and support that was in that house. The kids all played together and loved each other even though we were from all over the USA or from different countries; we loved each other because we were all in the same walk of life, and we needed all the love and support we could get. The Ronald McDonald House became our home away from home during the year and half that Tanner faced his battle. It’s a special place that truly is indescribable. During my personal battle with cancer, I stayed there for a couple of weeks after my first surgery. Staying there without Tanner felt a little weird to my family and me because we all had such fond memories of the house with Tanner in it. However, even at the age of 14, I still felt at home and loved in the Ronald McDonald House in Memphis.

Is the RMHC one of the reasons you joined Alpha Delta Pi at JMU?

Yes! Going into recruitment I knew that RMHC was ADPi’s philanthropy. I knew personally what all they do for RMHC, which made me love the sorority. I talked to some sisters about philanthropy on the first day and that made me fall in love with JMU’s chapter of ADPi instantly because I could tell how seriously they took RMHC. While I was at St. Jude battling cancer, I played bingo and had a thanksgiving dinner with ADPi girls from Ole Miss and the University of Memphis. As a freshman in high school, I thought this experience was really cool because they gave me a role model to look up to. That experience has always stuck with me and made me love ADPi before I even came to college.

How has this overlap of your organizations impacted your life?

Being able to give back to RMHC is a dream come true to me. I love that I can raise money with my sisters to give back to an organization that gave so much to me and my family. During my first few weeks in ADPi, I was able to go to Charlottesville Ronald McDonald House and being able to make their newsletters was very gratifying because I knew by doing this tiny task, the staff at RMHC could focus on the families or on the more important things that will better that RHMC branch.

What is “Princess Molly Day”?

Princess Molly Day is the greatest day of the year celebrated all across the globe because we get to celebrate another year of me beating cancer! This day is the day of the first surgery that removed the cancerous tumor from my leg. All in all, JMU should cancel classes for it. (PSA — Prez Trump and Prez Alger, it’s November 5.)

How many years have you been cancer-free?

Four years!

To donate to the Ronald McDonald House Charity, click the link below.

http://support.rmhc.org/site/PageNavigator/pw/Donation_Landing.html

Molly Haynes ’20

I’m so excited to introduce you to a very important person in my life. I met Molly Haynes in the Fall of 2016 when we became sorority sisters of Alpha Delta Pi.

Her story has inspired me, and I think it will do the same for you. Keep reading to find out what makes Molly such an awesome person, and how you can make a difference through the Ronald McDonald House Charity.