Through the #forRMHC tag on Twitter it is possible to follow the initiative of McDonald's to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the first Ronald McDonald House in the world. The goal is for families, volunteers, friends, suppliers and personalities to join the birthday creating a movement in which share and show the red and white stripes. The origins of the Ronald McDonald Children's Foundation date back to the birth of the Ronald McDonald House Charities Foundation (RMHC), a non-profit institution that works for the benefit of children. In 1974, in the United States, the daughter of professional football player Kim Hill was diagnosed with leukemia. Hill and his wife found themselves sleeping overnight in hospitals and doing everything possible to prevent their daughter from noticing the tension in the situation. For that reason, they set out to look for a means to solve this problem for families who find themselves in that situation.
For it, Fred hill, his teammates, McDonald's restaurants and some doctors, began to fundraising to help those families that were in the same situation. The first born of this initiative Ronald McDonald House and later, in 1984 the Ronald McDonald House Charities Foundation. In Spain, the Ronald McDonald Children's Foundation It was created in 1997 as a non-profit institution, with its own autonomy, whose objective is to develop initiatives aimed at contributing to social welfare, and especially to children and their families.
In Spain you can find the Ronald McDonald houses, in Barcelona that exists since 2002 in the vicinity of Vall d'Hebrón Hospital and that of Malaga, inaugurated in February 2012, within the grounds of the Maternal and Child Hospital of the capital of Malaga. On February 28, 2013, the Ronald McDonald House was inaugurated Valencia, in the immediate vicinity of the Hospital Universitari i Politécnic La Fe, which has had an investment of two million euros by the Foundation. It is located on a plot of 1,588 square meters donated by the Generalitat Valenciana, and has 16 rooms.
All Ronald McDonald Houses are a home away from home for sick children, mainly of cancer, and their parents who, for their medical treatment, spend long periods away from their homes. They can come from anywhere in Spain and abroad, for free and for as long as necessary for the child's recovery.
At the end of 2012 work began on the construction of the Ronald McDonald House of Madrid, which will be located on a plot within the Child Jesus Hospital itself, and will have 3,000 square meters. This will be the largest House in Spain with 23 rooms distributed over three floors, in addition to a residence for the House manager so that there is always someone attending to the families that stay in it. With a total of 68 rooms the four Ronald McDonald houses in Spain They will be able to meet the needs of more than 1,000 families a year in our country. An aid that not only does not entail any cost of the stay for families, but also translates into an average family savings of approximately 4,500 euros.
Since the opening of the first Ronald McDonald House in Philadelphia in 1976, 324 houses have been built in more than 30 countries around the world. Since its opening in 2002 until December 31, 2012, the Ronald McDonald Houses in Spain have passed 719 families different. 83% of these families correspond to stays in the House of Barcelona since that of Malaga is open since 2012.
The Ronald McDonald Children's Foundation, whose management is absolutely autonomous, is financed through multiple channels, including donations from individuals and businesses. However, McDonald's system is undoubtedly its main donor through its customers, suppliers and the 0.1% contribution of total daily sales of all restaurants.
We congratulate McDonald's for the anniversary and we thank you for the effort you make to offer resources and facilities to families with small children.
