Ronald McDonald House Charities

Ronald McDonald House Charities
Formation October 15, 1974 (1974-10-15)[1]
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Type Health care, charity, social welfare
Headquarters Oak Brook, Illinois, United States
Location
  • 366 Houses worldwide
Official language
English
Key people
 Sheila Musolino (President and CEO)
Steven Ramirez
(Chairman of the Board)[2]
Website rmhc.org
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 American independent nonprofit organization whose stated mission is to create, find, and support programs that directly improve the health and well-being of children.[3]

Gerald Newman, Chief Accounting Officer for McDonald's Corporation, was one of the founders of Ronald McDonald Children's Charities and was president of RMHC.[4]

RMHC has a global network of chapters in 64 countries and regions under three core programs: Ronald McDonald House, Ronald McDonald Family Room and Ronald McDonald Care Mobile.[5]

Programs

There are currently 366 Ronald McDonald Houses in 42 countries and regions.[6] These provide a place to stay for families with hospitalized children under 21 years of age (or 18, depending on the House), who are being treated at nearby hospitals and medical facilities.[7] 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. Ronald McDonald house is a place for people under the age of 21.

There are currently 214 Ronald McDonald's Family Rooms in 24 countries and regions.[6] 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 safe place for family members to rest, wash clothes, take a shower, or nap near the vicinity of their child.

There are currently 50 Ronald McDonald's Care Mobiles in nine countries and regions.[6] These mobile clinics offer health care for children in their own neighborhoods at no cost to the families. 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 minor illness and returned to school. Its stated mission is to provide "educational support" to these children who have fallen behind in their education. It is the only program of its kind in Australia.[8] The program now works with over 1000 students each week. It 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 and 10 sessions of speech or occupational therapy, if required.

U.S.

The first Ronald McDonald House was opened in Philadelphia in 1974.[9]

International

In 1981, the first Ronald McDonald's House outside the United States opened, in Toronto, Ontario.[9] In 1991, the 150th Ronald McDonald's House opened, in Paris, France (now closed.) On July 25, 2005, the 250th opened, in Caracas, Venezuela (currently closed). 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 366 Ronald McDonald's Houses in 43 countries.

Australia

The first Ronald McDonald House in Australia was opened in Camperdown, New South Wales in 1981. The number of Houses has since grown to 15. The program has since helped 100,000 families and houses up to 260 families per night.[10] 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.[11][12]

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.[13]

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.[14][12]

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 500 children a week.[15]

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. It assists with expenses related to vocational or tertiary education for children who have been seriously ill.[16][12]

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.[17]

Ronald McDonald House Charity Australia is also the major private donor to cord blood banks in Australia, providing a 10-year $A1 million commitment.[18]

Hong Kong

The first Ronald McDonald house was opened in 1996 in Shatin, Hong Kong.[19]

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. Stine Sofie Stiftelse first joined forces with Ronald McDonald Barnefond in 2015. The initial purpose was to fix houses where children of abuse and their families could stay for a day free of charge.

Pop Tab Program

Through the RMHC Pop Tab Collection Program,[20] to date more than $4 million has been generated. The program was 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 work.[21]

The Alpha Delta Pi sorority partners with the Ronald McDonald house to promote and participate in the Pop Tab Program.[22]

Awards

Worth magazine named Ronald McDonald's House Charity one of "America's 100 Best Charities" in 2001 and 2002.[23]

The U.S. Green Building Council awarded 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.[24] Not only is the design good for the environment, the Earth-friendly features create a beautiful environment for the children and families staying at the Ronald McDonald House.[25][26][27]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Our History". Rmhc.org. Archived from the original on 2016-05-21. Retrieved 2016-05-06.
  2. ↑ "Board of Trustees".
  3. ↑ "Mission and Vision". Rmhc.org. Retrieved 2013-07-31.
  4. ↑ Published: October 15, 1992 (1992-10-15). "Gerald Newman, 61, McDonald's Executive - New York Times". Nytimes.com. Retrieved 2013-07-31.
  5. ↑ "About Us".
  6. 1 2 3 "Impact Statement".
  7. ↑ "FAQ".
  8. ↑ "Home - Ronald McDonald Learning Program".
  9. 1 2 "About Us". RMHC. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
  10. ↑ "What We Do". Retrieved 7 July 2016.
  11. ↑ "Houses". Retrieved 9 November 2013.
  12. 1 2 3 "RMHC Quick Facts" (PDF). Retrieved 9 November 2013.
  13. ↑ "Family Rooms". Retrieved 7 July 2016.
  14. ↑ "Retreats". Retrieved 9 November 2013.
  15. ↑ "About Us". Retrieved 9 November 2013.
  16. ↑ "RMHC Charlie Bell Scholarship Program".
  17. ↑ "Care Mobile". Retrieved 9 November 2013.
  18. ↑ "Cord Blood Banks". Retrieved 9 November 2013.
  19. ↑ Hong Kong official website retrieved 18 March 2018
  20. ↑ RMHC Pop Tab Collection Program Archived 2010-11-29 at the Wayback Machine.
  21. ↑ House, Ronald McDonald. "Pop Tab Program". RMHC. Ronald McDonald House Charities. Archived from the original on 15 December 2016. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  22. ↑ Pi, Alpha Delta. "ADPI Philanthropy". ADPI Semo. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  23. ↑ "American's 100 Best Charities | Ashoka - Innovators for the Public". Ashoka. 2002-11-30. Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2013-07-31.
  24. ↑ "Rmhc-austin.org". Archived from the original on 2012-08-17.
  25. ↑ "Rhmc.org". Archived from the original on 2013-04-15.
  26. ↑ "Projects - Ronald McDonald House of Austin". Greenroofs.com. Retrieved 2013-07-31.
  27. ↑ "Show Us Your Money Maker: Ian McLagan". KUT.org. 2012-10-29. Archived from the original on 2012-07-19. Retrieved 2013-07-31.
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