Our story is a story of growth and change. We started with a 17 guest room House and have expanded to a 52 guest room House and now operate two Ronald McDonald House Family Rooms where families can rest, gather strength, and find some comfort during very difficult times.
In 1986, a board of concerned citizens, medical professionals, and McDonald’s owner/operators joined forces and formed We Care in Delaware. Len and Dora Dukart, who opened the first McDonald’s restaurant in Delaware, were the driving force behind the Ronald McDonald House of Delaware.
Our doors opened on June 7, 1991. The Ronald McDonald House is located on Rockland Road across from Nemours Children’s Hospital, Delaware. The House opened with 17 guest rooms for families, a living room, kitchen, dining room, recreation room with video games, ping pong, TV room, and a three-bedroom apartment for the Resident Manager.
The House expanded its programs and we opened a Ronald McDonald Family Room, one of the first in the country, at ChristianaCare next to the Special Care Nursery. A Ronald McDonald Family Room is an area set aside in a medical facility serving pediatric patients and is intended to serve as a quiet rest area for family members.
The House had a “mini” expansion adding 10 guest rooms and a sunroom in memory of Dora Dukart. The House also finished the basement and built a covered entranceway.
This Family Room was next to the cafeteria of Nemours Children’s Hospital, Delaware. The room had computers for families to use and a respite area that allowed them to escape the hustle and bustle of the hospital setting.
The House opened its new 23,000 square foot addition and added 23 guest rooms allowing us to serve 50 families every night. On November 13, 2003, the House held a groundbreaking ceremony to begin construction of the new wing. A capital campaign, Imagine… Building Hope One Brick at Time, was undertaken and raised over $5.8m to build the new guest rooms, new kitchen, dining room, 25 seat mini-theater, beauty salon, and other common areas. On May 5, 2005, the new wing officially opened.
The Ronald McDonald Family Room relocated in conjunction with the opening of the Family Resource Center on the third floor. Our room now includes 3 overnight sleep rooms for the families of the most critically ill children that need to be steps away from their children’s bedside.
Ronald McDonald House Delaware is part of a global charity, Ronald McDonald House. The roots of this global charity are in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
How it all started
When an unlikely partnership was formed in Philadelphia in 1974 between an NFL team, a children’s hospital and a restaurant chain, none of its members could have imagined that their dream of a “home -away-from-home” for families of seriously ill children would grow to become an international phenomenon. They wanted to create a place where parents of sick children could be with others who understood each others’ situations and could provide emotional support.
The seeds of the partnership were planted when Kim Hill, the 3-year-old daughter of Philadelphia Eagles tight end Fred Hill, was diagnosed with leukemia. Hill and his wife camped out on hospital chairs and benches ate food from vending machines, and did all they could to keep Kim from seeing their sadness, exhaustion, and frustration.
All around them, the Hills saw other parents doing exactly the same thing. They learned that many of the families had traveled great distances to bring their children to the medical facility; but the high cost of hotel rooms was prohibitive. They continued to think, “there has to be a happy medium.”
Hill rallied the support of his teammates to raise funds to help other families experiencing the same emotional and financial traumas as his own. Through the Philadelphia Eagles’ general manager, Jim Murray, the team offered its support to Dr. Audrey Evans, head of the pediatric oncology unit at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. It was Dr. Evans’ dream for a house that could serve as a temporary residence for families of children being treated at her hospital that led to the first Ronald McDonald House.
The Eagles enlisted the help of their McDonald’s restaurants to raise money for the first-ever House. In October 1974, the Philadelphia House opened bearing the name of Ronald McDonald.
How it grew!
By 1979, 10 more Ronald McDonald Houses had opened. In the next five years, local communities founded 60 more Houses; then 53 more opened in the next five years. Across the country and throughout the world, people viewed Ronald McDonald House as a way for a community to band together for their neighbors in need of comfort and security during a particularly difficult time.
Currently, there are 385+ Ronald McDonald House programs in 60+ countries and regions. All Houses have the same basic mission but vary in size, facility, and services. All are sustained through local donations and each House is independently owned and operated.
Additional programs beyond the Houses
The Ronald McDonald House programs have expanded other programs to serve children. Ronald McDonald House funds grants to benefit children’s charities and programs. The Ronald McDonald House Family Rooms extend the comfort of a Ronald McDonald House to a hospital setting; typically located just steps away from neonatal and pediatric intensive care units, the Ronald McDonald House Family Room provides a place to escape the stress and tension of the Hospital. Ronald McDonald House Care Mobiles provide access to health care for underserved children. Visit ronaldmcdonaldhouse.org for more information about how this Global charity has expanded to serve the needs of children.
From the moment the first Ronald McDonald House opened in Philadelphia, PA, the entire McDonald’s system (owner/operators, suppliers, employees, and customers) has helped support families with sick children by providing stability and vital resources.
McDonald’s support extends from monetary contributions and volunteerism to cause-related marketing promotions and in-store fundraising initiatives. McDonald’s has helped Ronald McDonald House positively impact millions of children and their families, and continues to provide valuable resources and support to help us expand our core programs and services.
Although we could not be where we are today without the support of our founding mission partner, Ronald McDonald House Delaware is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation. We rely on the support of the entire community and greatly value donations from the community and other corporate partners.
10-15% of our annual revenue comes from donations made at local McDonald’s restaurants and support from the McDonald’s system. The remainder of our budget is generated through the generosity of individuals, corporations, and foundations.
