Our Story
Ronald McDonald House Charities has been supporting families since 1974. The first House opened in Philadelphia, created to give families a place to stay close to their child during hospital treatment.
Ronald McDonald House Charities has been supporting families since 1974. The first House opened in Philadelphia, created to give families a place to stay close to their child during hospital treatment.
Our story began with a shared desire to support families during some of the most difficult moments of their lives.
Fred Hill, a player for the American football team the Philadelphia Eagles, had a daughter receiving treatment for leukaemia. His experience inspired the team to raise more than $100,000 to support the hospital.
This gift was received by Dr Audrey Evans, an oncologist at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She recognised that families travelling for treatment needed somewhere to rest away from the ward, and proposed creating a House where they could stay close to their children.
She also asked for a further $32,000 to help make this vision a reality. This request was supported by Ed Rensi, an area manager for McDonald’s, who helped raise funds through the Shamrock Shake campaign.
Thanks to this combined effort, the first Ronald McDonald House opened its doors in Philadelphia on 15 October 1974.
Born in 1925, Dr Audrey Evans was one of very few women studying medicine in the 1940s. Today, Dr Audrey Evans is recognised as a world-renowned paediatric oncologist and researcher of neuroblastoma, a cancer affecting babies and children. In the 1960s, she was recruited by Dr C Everett Koop to open an oncology service at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
In the UK, we have been supporting families since 1989, when construction began on the first House.
Globally, Ronald McDonald House Charities operates in more than 60 countries and regions, supporting families through a shared commitment to care, connection and support.
While our organisation has grown, our purpose remains the same.
We support families with children who are ill or injured by providing essential services that remove barriers, strengthen families and promote healing.
We continue to build on this work so that more families can stay close to their child when it matters most.