Ronald McDonald House Charities

Ronald McDonald House in Essen, Germany, designed by Friedensreich Hundertwasser

Ronald McDonald House in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia

Ronald McDonald House collection canister

Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) is an independent 501c3 nonprofit organization^[3] whose stated mission is to create, find, and support programs that directly improve the health and well being of children.^[4]

Gerald Newman, Chief Accounting Officer for McDonald's Corporation, was "one of the founders of Ronald McDonald Children's Charities and was president of R.M.H.C."^[5]

RMHC has a global network of Chapters in 63 countries and regions under three core programs, Ronald McDonald House, Ronald McDonald Family Room and Ronald McDonald Care Mobile.^[6]

Programs

There are currently 322 Ronald McDonald's Houses in 63 countries and regions. Ronald McDonald Houses act as a place to stay for families with hospitalized children who are receiving treatment and is only accessible to families who reside within a prescribed distance from the treating hospital as determined by the board. Ronald McDonald's Houses provide over 7,200 bedrooms to families around the world each night, with an estimated value of $700 million in lieu of hotel costs.^[7]

There are currently 161 Ronald McDonald's Family Rooms^[8] in 19 countries and regions. These Rooms accommodate over 3,000 families each day who live in the community and don't need or do not meet the prescribed criteria to stay at a Ronald McDonald House. They provide a place for family members to rest, wash clothes, take a shower, or nap near the vicinity of their child.

There are currently 43 Ronald McDonald's Care Mobiles^[9] in 6 countries. Ronald McDonald Care Mobiles are mobile clinics that offer affordable health care for children in their own neighborhoods. The program serves more than 100,000 children a year, and saves families in the U.S. $10 million in medical and dental costs each year.

The Ronald McDonald's Learning Program (Australia only) was formed in 1997 to help children who had suffered serious illness and returned to school. The stated mission of the program is to provide educational support to these children who have fallen behind in their education. The Ronald McDonald Learning Program is the only program of its kind in Australia.^[10] The program now works with over 1000 students each week. The program was first piloted in 1997 by Tracey Webster.

The Ronald McDonald's Learning Program supplies students with:

• A Cognitive and Educational assessment by an Educational Psychologist
• 40 hours of individual tutoring by a qualified teacher
• 10 sessions of Speech or Occupational Therapy, if required

International

In 1981, the first Ronald McDonald's House outside the United States opened, in Toronto, Ontario. In 1991, the 150th Ronald McDonald's House opened, in Paris, France. On July 25, 2005, the 250th opened, in Caracas, Venezuela. The first in-hospital Ronald McDonald House in APMEA (Asia Pacific Middle East and Africa) opened at Queen Sirikit National Institute of Child Health, Bangkok, Thailand, on June 7, 2011. Currently there are 324 Ronald McDonald's Houses in 57 countries.

Australia

The first Ronald McDonald House was opened in Australia in Camperdown, New South Wales in 1981. The number of Houses has since grown to 15. It has since helped 100 000 families and houses up to 260 families per night.^[11] Each House is attached to a major Children's or Women's hospital. Each House has an independent board that manages its own day to day funding.^[12][13]

Other RMHC Australia activities include Family Rooms in 14 hospitals. They are located at Canberra Hospital, Garran, ACT; Gosford Hospital, Gosford, New South Wales; John Hunter Hospital, New Lambton Heights, New South Wales; Royal North Shore Hospital, St Leonards, New South Wales; Sydney Children's Hospital, Randwick, New South Wales; Nepean Hospital, Kingswood, New South Wales; Gold Coast Hospital Children's Ward, Southport, Queensland; Gold Coast Hospital NICU, Southport, Queensland; Monash Medical Centre, Clayton, Victoria; Sunshine Hospital, St Albans, Victoria; The Northern Hospital, Epping, Victoria; Wodonga Hospital, Wodonga, Victoria; Peel Health Campus, Mandurah, Western Australia; and Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, Subiaco, Western Australia .^[14]

RMHC Australia also operates Family Retreats that enable families of sick children to take a holiday for a week. The retreats are located in Ocean Grove, Victoria; Jurien Bay and Bunbury, Western Australia; Forster, New South Wales and Palm Cove in Northern Queensland.^[15][16]

The Ronald McDonald Learning Program assists seriously ill children to catch up with missed education while staying in hospital. It provides assessment, therapy and tuition to children and training for teachers. It assists over 800 children a week.^[17]

The Charlie Bell Scholarship Program is named after the first Australian Global McDonald's Corporation CEO. The program provides financial assistance in the form of 11 one off scholarships a year, of up to $A5,000. It assists with expenses related to vocational or tertiary education for children that have been seriously ill.^[18][19]

The Ronald McDonald Care Mobile is a partnership between RMHC Australia and Royal Far West. It is based in Orange in regional New South Wales and travels throughout rural and remote New South Wales.^[20]

Ronald McDonald House Charity Australia is also the major private donor to Cord Blood Banks in Australia, providing a 5-year $A2.5 million commitment.^[21]

Norway

On May 21, 2016 Ronald McDonald Barnefond (Ronald McDonald Children's Fund) along with Stine Sofies Stiftelse, opened the world's first camp and learning center for children exposed to physical and sexual abuse. Stine Sofies Stiftelse was established in 2000 following the brutal rapes and murders of Lena (10) and Stine Sofie (8) in Kristiansand, Norway. It was Stine Sofie's mother Ada who established the organization to ensure that children exposed to abuse, as well as their families, were taken care of in the best possible way, both by the law and by the professionals and the community around them. In 2015 Ada's dream of building a center for the children aged 0–18 exposed to abuse came true when Stine Sofie Stiftelse joined forces with Ronald McDonald Barnefond, which stepped in with a donation of 12 million NOK (approximately USD 1,4 million). The grounds future purpose built houses and beautiful gardens where the children and their families can stay for a week free of charge while attending a broad variety of activities, learning exercises and fun games. The purpose is to get the right support from professionals, while also having fun and learning coping mechanisms to deal with the events they have been exposed to. Ronald McDonald Barnefond also donated toys and ice cream machines, and will ensure the upkeep of the houses and grounds in years to come.

http://stinesofiesstiftelse.no/index.php?pageID=1 http://stinesofiesstiftelse.no/index.php?artID=532 https://www.facebook.com/ronaldmcdonaldbarnefond/

Pop Tab Program

Through the RMHC Pop Tab Collection Program, to date more than $4 million has been generated. The Pop Tab Collection Program has been established to allow individuals and businesses to collect soda pop tabs from aluminum cans and donate them to their local RMHC Chapter or Ronald McDonald's House. Though it differs from program to program, for the most part, RMHC Chapters use the money received from recycling the tabs to help offset operational expenses or to sponsor or support programs. Not all Houses participate in the Pop Tab Program. Collected pop tabs are used by Ronald McDonald House Charities to fund their charity work. ^[22]

• Alpha Delta Pi Sorority partners with the Ronald McDonald house to promote and participate in the Pop Tab Program.^[23]

Awards

Worth magazine named Ronald McDonald's House Charity one of "America's 100 Best Charities" in 2001 and 2002.^[24][25]

The U.S. Green Building Council certified the Ronald McDonald's House Charities of Austin and Central Texas (RMHC-ACT) with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum certification, the highest level of sustainable building in the nation.^[26] Not only is the green design good for the environment, the eco-friendly features create a healthier environment for the children and families staying at the Ronald McDonald's House while children are treated at area medical centers.^[27][28][29]

See also

• Fisher House Foundation, a similar charity for military families
• Fred Hill
• McHappy Day
• Jim Murray
• Ronald McDonald House New York
• Ronald McDonald House Charities Canada
• Alpha Delta Pi

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ronald McDonald House.

• Ronald McDonald House official website
• Ronald McDonald House Charities Thailand official website