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The Ronald McDonald House Concept The Ronald McDonald House is a home-away-from-home for families whose children are receiving inpatient and outpatient medical care at area hospitals. The Ronald McDonald House is a temporary residence and is not a treatment facility or hospice.
The idea of a home for families of hospital patients first developed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1973, when Fred Hill, a member of the Philadelphia Eagles football team learned that his daughter had leukemia. During the course of her successful treatment, Hill and his team members and management asked how they could help the children's hospital. It was decided to help families in similar situations by providing a place to stay with reduced rates near the hospital, so the families could be together in times of crisis. The Eagles football team worked together with local McDonald stores to raise funds, and eventually the first Ronald McDonald House in the country was opened. It was so named, not just because of McDonald's fundraising support, but for the positive, hopeful, and fun-loving feeling this well-known clown character inspires in children.
As of November 1989, there were numerous Ronald McDonald Houses throughout the world serving the needs of families in crisis. The Providence Ronald McDonald House is the 125th.
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