Ronald McDonald House Charities of South Louisiana is bringing bowling, live music and a football signed by Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning to Mid-City this fall as it hosts its fourth annual Fore the Families Rock 'n' Par•tee. The fundraiser is set for October 7 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Rock 'n' Bowl on South Carrollton Avenue, with proceeds going toward housing families who travel to New Orleans for their children's medical care.
According to Biz New Orleans, the event is co-presented by the Gayle & Tom Benson Charitable Foundation and Ochsner Children's, with additional sponsors including First Horizon, Erica & James Reiss, Elly & Merritt Lane, Joy & Boysie Bollinger, LABMAR Ferry Services LLC, Jennifer & Dennis Lauscha, and Faye & Marshall Ballard. Tickets are $100 through September 15 before rising to $125 per person starting September 16. The night will include bowling, local fare, premium libations and live entertainment from BRW, alongside a luxury silent auction.
That auction lineup reads like a Louisiana sports and pop-culture wish list: an autographed Taylor Swift guitar and a signed Taylor Swift “Life of a Showgirl” CD, exclusive 50-yard-line Saints tickets, a signed Arch Manning jersey, a football signed by Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning, a ride with the Krewe of Iris, a Lionel Messi Argentina collage with an etched signature, a “Nodi Codette” designer handbag by SoSuSu, and a stay at an upscale North Carolina cottage.
What the Money Actually Funds
Every dollar raised covers the cost of lodging and support for families who would otherwise pay out of pocket while their children receive treatment, per the same account. RMHCSLA CEO Grace McIntosh said the organization has much to celebrate at this year's event, noting that the New Orleans Ronald McDonald House served 321 families and 1,286 individuals in 2025, providing 7,199 nights of accommodation and 73,302 meals. McIntosh added that the house welcomed visitors from four countries, nine states and 48 Louisiana parishes last year alone.
Since its founding in December 1983, RMHCSLA has served more than 40,000 families from Greater New Orleans and across the world, the organization says. The charity's mission centers on easing the financial and emotional burdens faced by families accessing critical care for their children, a scope reflected in the sheer breadth of parishes and states represented among last year's guests.
A Bigger House, and a Bigger Reach
The scale of that operation grew significantly after RMHCSLA relocated in December 2022 from a 15-bedroom house on Canal Street in Mid-City, where the charity had operated for 39 years, to a newly renovated 17,500-square-foot facility on the Children's Hospital New Orleans campus, according to Biz New Orleans. The $6 million project, jointly funded with Children's Hospital New Orleans, expanded the number of guest rooms by 47%, from 15 to 22, and more than 70% of families staying there seek pediatric care at that hospital. The vacated Canal Street building was purchased by NAMI New Orleans, which converted it into a therapeutic clubhouse for adults living with mental illness, per the Mid-City Messenger.
RMHCSLA's footprint now extends beyond New Orleans as well. The charity opened a 1,500-square-foot Ronald McDonald Family Room inside Our Lady of Lourdes Women's & Children's Hospital in Lafayette in December 2022, giving NICU and pediatric families access to three private sleeping rooms, laundry facilities and a kitchen, according to Our Lady of Lourdes Health. More than half of the families hosted at the New Orleans house travel from Central and Southwest Louisiana, a pattern that has driven joint fundraising efforts with the Acadian Home Builders Association to expand regional facilities, per RMHC of South Louisiana.
Local Ties Run Deep
The New Orleans Ronald McDonald House traces back to December 10, 1983, when it opened with support from the New Orleans Saints as the 53rd Ronald McDonald House established nationally, per RMHC of South Louisiana. That connection to the Saints organization continues today: the Gayle & Tom Benson Charitable Foundation, led by Saints owner Gayle Benson, is a co-presenting sponsor of this year's event, and Saints center Erik McCoy designated RMHCSLA as his beneficiary cause during the NFL's 2025 My Cause, My Cleats initiative, wearing custom cleats in Week 12 to raise awareness for the charity, according to the New Orleans Saints.
McIntosh has led RMHCSLA since joining in July 2021, having previously served as CEO of the American Red Cross in San Luis Obispo County, California. The organization's board also gained two new members in September 2025: Mathew Timmons, senior vice president and COO at Manning Family Children's, and civic fundraiser Erica Reiss, who is listed among this year's event co-sponsors. Tickets for the October 7 fundraiser at Rock 'n' Bowl, a Mid-City institution that began as a bowling alley in 1941 before evolving into a live-music venue in 1989, are available online, with early-bird pricing ending September 15.
