Ronald McDonald House: Where “Family Stays”
October 15, 2025
For over five decades, McDonald’s, our franchisees, our customers, and our suppliers have stood shoulder to shoulder with Ronald McDonald House — volunteering, fundraising, and rallying communities so families can focus on what matters most.
When a child is hospitalized, family isn’t just visiting – family stays. Ronald McDonald House makes that possible.
At Ronald McDonald House, formerly known as Ronald McDonald House Charities, families and their well-being come first. Since 1974, McDonald’s has partnered with the charity to provide comfort, care, and vital support to families navigating their children’s health challenges.
What is Ronald McDonald House?
In 1974, a group of Philadelphia community leaders—including the Philadelphia Eagles football team, led by player Fred Hill, and a group of local McDonald’s franchisees—raised funds to bring to life a powerful vision spearheaded by Dr. Audrey Evans: the Ronald McDonald House. Their goal was to provide a “home away from home” and essential support to families while their children received care at nearby hospitals.
More than fifty years after its founding in Philadelphia, Dr. Audrey Evans’ mission to help families in need lives on. Today, Ronald McDonald House spans the globe, with over 390 House programs and 275 Family Rooms, operating across 60+ countries & regions, which provide more than 2.8 million overnight stays for families during their times of need.
How Does Ronald McDonald House Help Families?
When a child is sick, families offer something more than a doctor, machine or medicine can — the power of love, presence, and emotional strength.
Beyond keeping families together during a child’s care, Ronald McDonald House programs offer health education, preventative care to inform early diagnosis, mental health support, nutritious meals, sibling resources, and perhaps most importantly, a community of support on a local level tailored to each individual family.
Through this global network of support, countless families have had their hard times made a little easier by staying close to the ones they care about most.
What Programs does Ronald McDonald House Offer?
Ronald McDonald House: Ronald McDonald House programs offer families a place to stay and support from staff and volunteers. Essential services like home-cooked meals and proximity to hospitals are some of the ways Ronald McDonald House helps make a hard time a little easier.
Ronald McDonald House Family Rooms: Family Room programs are spaces inside of hospitals, away from the medical areas, for families to rest, recharge and relax. They are quiet spaces where loved ones can shower, cook, and get some sleep if needed.
Ronald McDonald Local Programs: Programs that address the unmet needs of a community, such as the Ronald McDonald House Care Mobile program- a service that provides essential resources like dental, medical, and health care to communities in need.
None of this would be possible without donations, and the demand for support is ever-growing. Currently, Ronald McDonald House meets only 35% of the global demand for essential services provided by programs. Every dollar helps a family stay with their child during their healthcare journey and helps their child stay in the fight for as long as they need.
What’s Changing at Ronald McDonald House?
An updated name and logo aren’t the only things changing at Ronald McDonald House. The charity is also aiming to serve more families and serve them better. These bold ambitions include doubling the number of families served in the next five years and meeting the top unmet needs of families, such as food security and access to mental health services.
McDonald’s: Founding and Forever Partner
As the mission of Ronald McDonald House spread across countries and continents, McDonald’s has stayed – enabling Ronald McDonald House to support families when they need it most.
McDonald’s is not just a partner to Ronald McDonald House; McDonald’s is family.
There is comfort in knowing that you are not walking this journey alone. While the situations and reasons for people being at Ronald McDonald House may differ, we are all there because a loved one is seeking medical attention. This commonality builds bonds and makes us all stronger. There are not enough words to thank Ronald McDonald House for sheltering us, removing the financial burden, and for being a haven during such a turbulent time." - Lisa Mackrie, McDonald's U.S. Shareholder Services, and a mom who stayed
For more information on how McDonald’s supports Ronald McDonald House, check out our Purpose & Impact page.
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