The new Ronald McDonald House® being built in Charlotte — like the first Ronald McDonald House opened more than thirty years ago — was inspired by heartfelt empathy for families with seriously ill children seeking medical care at hospitals far from home.
In 1974, the shared hardships of parents sleeping on hospital benches and eating meals out of vending machines inspired Philadelphia Eagles tight end Fred Hill, whose daughter had leukemia, to rally his teammates around a campaign to build the first Ronald McDonald House in Philadelphia, PA. With power, energy and leadership, Jim Murray, General Manager of the Philapheliphia Eagles, enabled the city with a vision and formed a team from the community at large to make Ronald McDonald House an ongoing legacy.
A decade later, Ronald McDonald House Charities® was founded to carry out the work of what ultimately became one of the most far-reaching non-profit agencies in the world. Dedicated in memory of McDonald's founder and children's advocate Ray Kroc, the Charity now supports about 276 Ronald McDonald Houses serving over 10 million families worldwide.
Through the years, the Ronald McDonald House has been a "home away from home" for families of seriously ill children. In addition to the Ronald McDonald House, the charitable group supports two additional core programs — the Ronald McDonald Family Room™ and the Ronald McDonald Care Mobile program™.
The Ronald McDonald Family Room is a secure "haven within a hospital" for pediatric families to rest and get away from the sterile environment of the hospital. The Ronald McDonald Family Room program provides a haven within the hospital for families of critically ill children. Often located just steps away from the neonatal or pediatric intensive care units, family members can rest, reflect or even shower, without leaving their child's side.
The Ronald McDonald Care Mobile program™, offering cost-effective medical and/or dental and health education services to underserved children in the United States and several countries around the world.
To date, Ronald McDonald House Charities and its global network of local Chapters have awarded $440 million in grants and program services to children's nonprofit organizations worldwide. The Ronald McDonald Houses are supported by nearly 30,000 volunteers who annually donate more than three million hours of their time.
In Charlotte, the newest Ronald McDonald House also will strive to be a "home for healing" for seriously ill children, providing the warmth and comfort of home, along with emotional support and education to promote the well-being of the entire family.
The Ronald McDonald House of Charlotte will be the fifth such facility in North Carolina. The first Ronald McDonald House in North Carolina opened in Durham in 1980, and there also are Ronald McDonald House facilities in Chapel Hill, Greenville and Winston-Salem.
The Ronald McDonald House of Charlotte is scheduled to open in 2010, following its completion of a successful capital campaign.
