Ronald McDonald House Charities

Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) is an independent American nonprofit organization whose stated mission is to create, find, and support programs that directly improve the health and well-being of children.

RMHC has a global network of chapters in 62 countries and regions under three core programs: Ronald McDonald House, Ronald McDonald Family Room and Ronald McDonald Care Mobile.

Programs
The first Ronald McDonald House was opened in Philadelphia in 1974. Jim Murray, general manager of the Philadelphia Eagles, was raising funds for one of his players' (Fred Hill) daughters when he met Children's Hospital of Philadelphia oncologist Audrey Evans. They partnered with Elkman Advertising which handled marketing for McDonald's, and the charity took the name of the latter's mascot.

Houses
There are over 380 Ronald McDonald Houses in 64 countries. These accommodate families with hospitalized children under 21 years of age (or 18 or 26, depending on the House), who are being treated at nearby hospitals and medical facilities. These houses are located just minutes away from the special care hospitals that are required to help children get back to full health. Ronald McDonald Houses allow families to stay free of charge. They also provide families with home cooked meals. Houses like these scattered throughout the world allow families to have a home away from home and focus on what is important, their child's health.

Family Rooms
There are currently over 260 Ronald McDonald Family Rooms in 28 countries. These family rooms are inside of hospitals. They allow families to stay right beside their children, but also allow them to take a break and relax during a rather stressful situation. These rooms provide families with a safe space to get a snack, take a nap, or even take a shower. They also provide toys for the children to play with to help get their mind off of the setting they are in.

Care Mobiles
There are currently 40 Ronald McDonald Care Mobiles in ten countries. These care mobiles travel throughout select regions of the world and provide health care to many families in need. Millions of families worldwide are without basic medical, health, and dental care. Which is part of the reason why these buses are so crucial in the Ronald McDonald House's project to provide people across the world with the ability to have access to quality health care.

International
In 1981, the first Ronald McDonald House outside the United States opened, in Toronto, Ontario. In 1991, the 150th Ronald McDonald House opened, in Paris, France, although it has closed. On July 25, 2005, the 250th location opened in Caracas, Venezuela, but it has since been 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.

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 18. The program has since helped 100,000 families and houses up to 260 families per night. 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.

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. The program now works with over 1,000 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.

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 Perth Children's Hospital, Nedlands, Western Australia.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Hong Kong
The first Ronald McDonald House in Hong Kong was opened in 1996 in Sha Tin.

The second House plans to establish in Kwun Tong District which is close proximity to the Hong Kong Children's Hospital.

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, 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 each program differs, 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.

The Alpha Delta Pi sorority partners with Ronald McDonald House Charities to promote and participate in the Pop Tab Program.

Partnership with McDonalds
The Ronald McDonald House has a program to help support the house through the donation of money from each happy meal purchased at McDonalds. With the purchase of each happy meal two cents is donated to the charity. In 2021 more than $168 million was donated to the Ronald McDonald House through the donations from McDonalds.

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

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.

Criticism
Ronald McDonald House has been criticised as an attempt by McDonald's to distract from its role in contributing to childhood obesity and animal welfare issues. Anne Markwardt of Foodwatch, which researches food industry practices, said that "One has to remember that a large amount of the funding does not come from McDonald's itself but from private, corporate or other donors." In 2013 it was estimated by Corporate Accountability International that McDonald's contributed about 5% of the funding and about 30% came from McDonald's customers' donations. Markwardt said that the houses are "used as marketing ploys for profitable but unhealthy products, as well as means of indirect political influence," noting that politicians regularly visited for photo opportunities.