In 2023, families staying at RMHC® Houses across the country travelled 5,275,188 kilometres—equivalent to travelling around the world over 131 times.
No parent anticipates, or can mentally and financially prepare for the reality of having a sick child. Picture the stress and emotional toll, compounded by the fact that the specialized healthcare your child needs is a multi-hour drive away, in an unfamiliar city, far from the comfort and support of home.
This is the harsh reality that many families with a sick child across Canada face every day. Ronald McDonald House Charities® (RMHC) is here to help ease this journey and has done so for more than 468,000 families in Canada since its inception.
Given the vast geography of our country, and with 16 specialty children’s hospitals serving our entire population, travel, often long distances, to access specialty care is the reality for many families in Canada. Families like the Welch family from Grand Prairie, Alberta, who lived a five-hour drive one way from the nearest children’s hospital in Edmonton.
“RMHC was our lifeline during the most difficult time in our lives,” says Michelle Welch, whose family stayed at the RMHC Alberta House in Edmonton for over 800 nights. “They provided us with a home-away-from-home, helping to alleviate the burden of long-distance travel and the stress of being far from our sick child. But not every family is as fortunate.”
Today, the 16 Ronald McDonald Houses and 19 Ronald McDonald Family Rooms across Canada help shorten the distance for families by enabling access to healthcare. However, today, RMHC is unable to support up to four out of five families who need the RMHC House program due to lack of space or no available program location.
“No family with a sick child wants to be away from their child’s bedside, and being many hours’ drive away is unimaginable,” said Kate Horton, president and CEO of RMHC Canada. “Our vision for the future is that no family is turned away from being by the side of their sick child. Together with the support of our communities and our donors, we have ambitious plans to grow and help shorten the distance for even more families.”
Across Canada, there are currently 549 bedrooms for families, and RMHC aims to grow this number to 884 by 2028, through new and expanded Ronald McDonald Houses and Family Room programs.
RMHC Canada is calling on Canadians to help shorten the distance and end the ‘Never-Ending Drive’ for families by donating today and helping to support families with sick children. The funds raised will be instrumental in supporting RMHC’s mission of helping more families stay together and to enhance existing and new programming to continue meeting the needs of the families they serve, including meal programming, mental health and wellness spaces, and more.
Visit rmhc.ca/donate today.
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