The first Ronald McDonald House was built with love in 1974 in Philadelphia inspired by one family and there to help others in time of need. They quickly spread across the US and then Canada. The Ronald McDonald House BC has been open since 1983 and has helped THOUSANDS of families struggling to balance care for their hospitalized children and their work and families.
They need more room.
The House can currently hold 13 families at a time. That is not enough. We see the news stories. Families from the island or up North torn apart because their entire lives are thrown into chaos in their need to be with their sick child. Jobs are lost, and siblings are stuck in between parents juggling hospital duty and care for the rest of the family. I (fortunately) can ONLY imagine.
What I don’t think people realize is that the funding for RMHC goes beyond Happy Meals and corporate funding. Fundraising goes on all the time on the local and international level and right now with the hopes and plans to build a bigger and better facility in Vancouver…fundraising awareness is crucial.
They already have the land, big enough to build a new 74,000 square foot house, which will serve the needs of up to 73 families at a time. It’s perfectly located, right on the property of BC Children’s Hospital. So, families can have easy access to treatment. The plan is to open in the spring of next year and they still need $6 million dollars to build the last 15 rooms to accommodate 73 families during a terrible time.
For more information and a virtual tour of the new facilities click here.
I have donated to the charity over the years (and we all love our McDonald’s in this house) but I have never seen or learned more about what they do. This Friday (July 26th) I and a few of my fellow bloggers and their families will visit the Ronald McDonald House BC to get to know more about what they do for families and their ties with BC Children’s Hospital.
We are all really looking forward to this insight and can’t wait to share it with all of you….especially if it helps with their fundraising efforts.
If you have any particular questions about RMHC, do let me know before then.
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