About Us
Mission
We provide essential services that remove barriers, strengthen families, and promote healing when children need healthcare.
Vision
A world where every family has what they need to ensure the best health outcomes for their children.
Values
Family-focused – We enable the healing power of togetherness for a family with a sick child.
Compassionate – We serve with empathy, realizing that the families and children we welcome are experiencing tremendous uncertainty and worry.
Inclusive – We know there is strength in diversity of thought and culture and seek to create an environment where all are respected and valued.
Accountable – We operate with transparency and are committed to utilizing our partnerships and resources responsibly.
When an unlikely partnership was formed in Philadelphia in 1974 between an NFL team, a children’s hospital, and a restaurant chain, none of its members could have imagined that their dream of a home away from home for families of seriously ill or injured children would grow to become an international phenomenon.
They wanted to create a place where parents of sick children could be with others who understood their situation. The seeds of the partnership were planted when Kim Hill, the 3-year-old daughter of Philadelphia Eagles tight end Fred Hill, was diagnosed with leukemia. Hill and his wife camped out on hospital chairs, ate food from vending machines, and did all they could to keep Kim from seeing their sadness, exhaustion, and frustration.
All around them, the Hills saw other parents doing the same thing. They learned that many families had traveled great distances to bring their children to the medical facility, but the high cost of hotel rooms was prohibitive. Hill rallied the support of his teammates to raise funds to help other families experiencing the same emotional and financial traumas as his own. Through the Philadelphia Eagles’ general manager, Jim Murray, the team offered its support to Dr. Audrey Evans, head of the pediatric oncology unit at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. It was Dr. Evans’ dream for a house that could serve as a temporary residence for families of children being treated at her hospital that led to the first Ronald McDonald House. The McDonald’s owner/operators in Philadelphia made the House possible, donating proceeds from the sale of shamrock shakes. Eventually, Ronald McDonald House Charities was officially established in memory of McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc, a strong advocate for children.
Currently, there are 389 Ronald McDonald Houses in more than 43 countries and regions.
McDonald's has been the RMHC Founding and Forever Mission Partner since 1974.
From the moment the first Ronald McDonald House opened in Philadelphia, PA, the entire McDonald’s system (owner/operators, suppliers, employees, and customers) has helped support families with sick children providing stability and vital resources. McDonald’s support extends from monetary contributions and volunteerism to cause-related marketing promotions and the space to place RMHC Donation Boxes that raise money for local chapters, including Ronald McDonald House Charities of Arkansas & North Louisiana.