Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Capital Region (RMHC-CR) will be here for the Kropf family and countless others, thanks to the compassion of generous friends like you. Your year-end donation will help ensure families can stay together — surrounded by comfort, hope and love — during the holidays and all the year through.

Thanks to a generous, anonymous donor, all donations received between now and December 31, 2025, will be matched dollar-for-dollar up to $35,000!

It’s the call every parent dreads. Late at night, long-distance. An unfamiliar voice sharing unfathomable news. Your child has been in an accident, and you need to come right away.

The Kropf family received this call from Albany Medical Center when their 18-year-old daughter, Alexa, was critically injured in a tragic hit-and-run accident.

“What are we going to do? Where are we going to stay? Who’s going to take care of her? Is she going to live?” Alexa’s father, Jim Kropf, recalls all these questions racing through his mind.

In the month after Alexa awoke from a medically induced coma and recovered from injuries that required extensive brain and leg surgeries, the Kropfs lived at the Albany Ronald McDonald House, receiving housing and meals free of charge. But when Jim recalls their experience, it’s the small comforts that meant everything—and still resonate today.

“You’d come back from the hospital at maybe 11 o’clock at night, and there’d be a chocolate chip cookie waiting for you. It sounds very small, but to sit down there—with someone who’d come sit with you or give you a little look and a smile—you just feel the warmth and support.”

Now nearly two years since her accident, Alexa continues to improve. She’s working, taking online college classes, and spending quality time with family and friends. She can even be found volunteering at Ronald McDonald House several days a week!