"It's literally like having family": Florida mom, son call Ronald McDonald House Southern New Jersey their home
The holiday season has arrived in Marlton, Burlington County. During the tree lighting ceremony at the Promenade at Sagemore, a family staying at the nearby Ronald McDonald Southern New Jersey house in Camden helped flipped the switch.
"This is Charles Thomas Jenkins. Future president," said Emily Austin about her young son, who's known as "CJ."
He turns 2 in March, so it'll a few years until he's president.
"For everything he has going on, he's easygoing and he's happy and I just cannot believe it," Austin said. "It is to doctors called cloacal exstrophy. To all the other parents with kids like this, it's more commonly known as OEIS complex."
Austin said not many hospitals specialize in treatment for this condition, but the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia is one of them.
Last November, Austin and CJ first flew from Florida to Philadelphia for the care he needed. They've made the trip back and forth several times since, each time staying at one of the Ronald McDonald Houses in the Delaware Valley.
"When you're traveling hundreds of miles away from home, and I don't have any family here, what do you do? This is a home away from home. This home away from home," Austin said. "It's literally like having family."
During a recent visit, CJ had surgery, so grandma came, too. CBS News Philadelphia talked with Brenda Rigdon as she was making homemade biscuits for the house.
"That's all that I can do is share the family with the families here because they might not know what some British food tastes like, but by golly, they're going to learn while we're here," Rigdon said.
A little love in the kitchen for the people that Austin, Rigdon, and little CJ feel have become their family. They ask the community to give back because every little bit helps.
"Every child needs a champion. And I'm not a champion by any way, stretch of the imagination but I do like to shout about it," Rigdon said.
While the family is saying goodbye to the house for now, they will be back again for more treatment at CHOP in the near future.
Be a part of the village that helps create the Ronald McDonald House Charities a home away from home. And don't forget to tune into the telethon on CBS Philadelphia on Nov. 21.
To learn more and donate now, visit RMHC.org.