[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 34 (Wednesday, March 23, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: March 23, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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  TRIBUTE TO MS. JEF CONNER LOUISVILLIAN HELPS OTHERS THROUGH TRAGIC 
                                 TIMES

 Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, too often in our lives we see 
tragic events and chose to ignore them. I understand that there isn't 
any one of us who can change the world singlehandedly. However, if we 
all followed the example of my dear friend Jef Conner, the world would 
be a much more pleasant place to live.
  Jef Conner is a doer Mr. President. Thirteen years ago she was forced 
to deal with a personal tragedy. Her daughter, Christine, was diagnosed 
with a form of cancer affecting her nervous system. During her 
treatment at Louisville's Kosair Children's Hospital. Jef saw firsthand 
the horrors that a family with a sick child must endure.
  Mr. President, Kentucky is a largely rural State and therefore many 
families are forced to travel great distances to get the specialized 
medical care they may require. This imposes even greater burdens upon 
those already dealing with the fear of losing their precious children.
  Jef Conner, as is emblematic of her ``can do'' personality, has done 
something about this problem. In 1984, with the help of her daughter's 
doctor, Dr. Sal Bertolone, and over one-thousand volunteers, a Ronald 
McDonald House was founded in Louisville. Here families of ill children 
being treated at Kosair can stay while their loved ones are being cared 
for. The facility provides housing at only $7 a day very near the 
Children's Hospital.
  Since its opening the Ronald McDonald House has served 20,338 people 
from 8,190 families and 105 of Kentucky's 120 counties. Jef Conner 
deserves much of the credit for these figures. Early on she and her two 
sons served as weekend managers of the facility. She still serves meals 
there on holidays as well as serving on the board of many Kentucky 
charitable organizations. I am also proud to announce that Jef's 
daughter Christine is now healthy and helps her mother volunteer at the 
house.
  Mr. President, Jef Conner serves as a wonderful example to us all as 
someone who does the necessary things to help her community become a 
better place to live. When she sees a problem she does what she can to 
alleviate it and we are all grateful to her for her continued efforts.
  Mr. President, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring my friend 
Jef and a true point of light in the Louisville community. In addition, 
I request that an article from the March 21, 1994 Courier Journal be 
placed in the Record following my remarks.
  The article follows:

         [From the Louisville Courier Journal, March 21, 1994]

Home Away From Home--Jef Conner Has Worked to Build a Caring Atmosphere 
                      For Families of Ill Children

                            (By Bill Wolfe)

       The difference between a stack of dry wood and a blazing 
     fire is one tiny spark.
       The difference between a pile of good intentions and the 
     glowing success of the 9-year-old Louisville Ronald McDonald 
     House was Jef Conner.
       For years, Dr. Sal Bertolone had wanted a house for 
     families of ill children being treated in Louisville. But the 
     idea never seemed to catch fire.
       ``We didn't have the spark to ignite it,'' the pediatric 
     hematologist and oncologist said.
       The spark came after a crisis touched the lives of Conner 
     and then-husband Hunt Rounsavall. Their daughter, Christine, 
     was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer that affects the 
     nervous system soon after she was born May 17, 1981.
       Christine spent weeks in Kosair Children's Hospital, 
     undergoing surgery and beginning radiation therapy. Despite 
     their fears and grief, Conner and Rounsavall were touched by 
     the plight of out-of-town parents who brought their children 
     to Louisville for medical care.
       After reading a Reader's Digest article about Ronald 
     McDonald Houses springing up around the world, Conner 
     contacted the McDonald's Corp. ``Even though I didn't know if 
     Christine would ever even make it, I knew I had to do 
     something'' for the other parents, said Conner, 46, who lives 
     in eastern Jefferson County.
       ``They wrote me back a letter and said, ``You know, there's 
     a doctor in your community that really wants this. His name 
     is Dr. Bertolone,' '' Conner recalled.
       She was surprised. Bertolone was Christine's doctor, but he 
     had never spoken to Conner about a Ronald McDonald House. 
     Soon, however, the two were meeting on her back porch making 
     plans for the house.
       ``It just snowballed,'' Conner said. ``I called few people. 
     People wrote me out of the blue. People I didn't even know 
     started calling me.''
       Before long ``we had close to 1,000 volunteers,'' said 
     Conner, president of the group--called Kentuckiana Children's 
     House--from 1981 from 1986.
       In its first two years, the group raised $1.8 million to 
     lease and renovate the first two floors of the University of 
     Louisville's old medical school annex at 550 S. First St.
       ``I knew we could do it. And all the volunteers, the people 
     that I met, they all felt the same way,'' Conner said.
       The Louisville Ronald McDonald House opened Sept. 10, 1984. 
     It had served 20,338 people from 8,190 families as of last 
     Oct. 31, when the numbers were last calculated. They have 
     come from 105 of Kentucky's 120 counties and from 24 other 
     states.
       The 17,000-square-foot house contains 20 bedrooms, two 
     living rooms, two dining rooms, 11 bathrooms, five common 
     kitchen areas, a game room, a library and play areas inside 
     and out.
       Residents pay $7 a night per room (though the fee can be 
     waived) and can stay in the house up to nine months.
       Conner and her two sons, Hunt and Gibbs, occasionally 
     managed the house on weekends for the first year it was open. 
     While the House now has paid managers, Conner continues to 
     help out on holidays, cooking and decorating with help from 
     her second husband, Stewart Conner, and Christine, now a 
     healthy and active 12-year-old.
       And Jef Conner has expanded her efforts locally and 
     nationally.
       In 1987, the international advisory board for Ronald 
     McDonald Houses asked her to join the board. There she helped 
     other communities begin houses, including one in Utrecht in 
     the Netherlands.
       She also served on the Ronald McDonald Children's Charities 
     Board, the grant-making foundation for McDonald's Corp., and 
     is now a board member of the National Committee to Prevent 
     Child Abuse.
       Locally, she is on the boards of a half-dozen charities and 
     agencies, and she volunteers in a program that searches for 
     bone-marrow donors for cancer patients.
       The common bond between the activities is a concern for 
     children, she said.
       ``When you see sick kids and abused children, you cannot 
     step away or look away. You have to--you just have to do 
     whatever you can to make a difference,'' Conner said.
       Those who know her say Conner's strength as a leader stems 
     from her passion, vision and ability to unite diverse people.
       ``She's able to bring people together, and she's able to 
     see the long-term goals,'' said Mitchell Charney, immediate 
     past president of Kentuckiana Children's House.
       ``She got me involved in the Ronald McDonald House, and I 
     wound up being president,'' said Charney, a law partner with 
     Goldberg and Simpson. ``She's a 110-percenter,'' Bertolone 
     said.
       ``She sees a problem and she's going to solve it. She's not 
     going to turn around and say, `I've got too much on my 
     plate.'''
       Conner simply says that ``volunteering is a wonderful 
     thing. It's an opportunity to give back. And in my case, I 
     have a great debt to the community. Everything was in the 
     right place at the right time for my child. And I want it to 
     be that way for the child that's going to be born tomorrow.''


              jef conner, louisville ronald mcdonald house

       Founder, board member, past president.
       Job: Community volunteer.
       Years performing the service: 12.
       Mission: To provide a home away from home for families 
     while children receive medical treatment.
       Source of funds: $150,000 through private 
     contributions.

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