Putting families at the heart of care since 1980.
The First Ronald McDonald House
During Kim’s three years of treatment, the Hills often camped out on hospital chairs and benches and ate makeshift meals out of vending machines, all while watching other parents do the same. They learned that many families traveled great distances to bring their children to the medical facility and couldn’t afford hotel rooms.
The Hills knew there had to be a better way. Fred rallied the support of his Eagles teammates to raise funds. Through Jim Murray, the Eagles’ general manager, the team offered its support to Dr. Audrey Evans, head of the pediatric oncology unit at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. Evans dreamed of a comfortable temporary residence for families of children being treated at her hospital.
Murray enlisted Don Tuckerman from the local McDonald’s advertising agency, who with the support of McDonald’s Regional Manager Ed Rensi, launched the St. Patrick’s Day Green Milkshake (now known as the Shamrock Shake) promotion. Funds raised went toward purchasing an old house located near the hospital.
And, thus, the first Ronald McDonald House came to be.
By 1979, 10 more houses opened. By 1984, local communities founded another 60 houses; then 53 more opened by 1989. Today, more than 377 Ronald McDonald House programs operate in 45 countries and regions around the world, providing comfort and support to more than 10 million families since 1974.
Dr. Audrey Evans was an incredible woman who transformed pediatric healthcare and was the founder of Ronald McDonald House.
In 1969, she became the first Chief of the Division of Oncology at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. There she made incredible breakthroughs in treating neuroblastoma. Dr. John M. Maris, who studied under Dr. Evans, shared, “She was a driving force in leading the revolution that changed childhood cancer from being a nearly uniformly fatal disease, to one where we cure 80% of patients.”
Her care extended to prioritizing the emotional and psychological needs of the whole family. She dreamed of a place for families to stay close to their children getting care. Co-founding the first Ronald McDonald House, her dream became a reality.
Dr. Evans, who died in 2022 at the age of 97, once said, “I was given a mission, and the ability to serve it. To make a difference in the lives of children.”
The first Ronald McDonald House opened in Philadelphia with the help of Dr. Audrey Evans, a pediatric oncologist at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
With the active support of the Greater Washington Advertising Cooperative of the McDonald’s Corporation, our cornerstone program, the Ronald McDonald House, was launched and incorporated as a non-profit, volunteer organization.
The original Ronald McDonald House® of Washington, DC opened its doors in June of 1980, and was the sixteenth Ronald McDonald House to open nationwide in the six years since the program began.
Ronald McDonald House merged with Ronald McDonald House Charities to become Ronald McDonald House Charities® of Greater Washington, DC (RMHCDC).
RMHCDC opened its second Ronald McDonald House in Northern Virginia on the campus of Inova Fairfax.
RMHCDC unveiled a brand new Ronald McDonald House with 25 rooms, including 4 isolation suites for children with compromised immune systems. The new Ronald McDonald House was built “green” and certified as LEED Gold to benefit our families and the community for generations to come.
Renovation starts at both Ronald McDonald House programs to increase the number of bedrooms at the Ronald McDonald House of Northern Virginia from 8 guest rooms to 24 guest rooms, and the Ronald McDonald House of Washington, DC from 26 to 32 guest rooms.
Expansions and renovations at both Ronald McDonald House programs in Washington, D.C. and Northern Virginia were completed. Twenty-two guest suites were added increasing our capacity, family-centered spaces, and allowing us to better serve 33% more families each year.
Home Genius Exteriors, their amazing team, and their generous partners Owens-Corning and ABC Supply Co. stepped up to donate a new roof rated for 50 years and worth over $100,000. This generosity not only provides a safe, secure home-away-from-home for our current families, but for thousands of families to come!
