When a child is sick or seriously injured, a family needs to be there with them constantly to help them heal and make sure they know they’re never alone. From meeting with doctors and nurses to spending long afternoons and evenings sitting with your child, comforting them and letting them know you’re there for them, having a child in the hospital requires a family to spend a lot of time in the hospital, too. As an illness stretches on and medical bills accumulate, so can hotel bills, restaurant bills, laundry bills and more.
Staying with a child at the hospital and away from home can get extremely expensive for many families, especially as many parents have to take unpaid time away from work so they can remain at the hospital. The last thing that should be on a parent’s mind when their child is ill is how they’re going to pay for their hotel room of where they’re going to find dinner that night. They need to focus all of their time, energy and resources on their child and his or her medical care, so they can help them make a full and speedy recovery.
That’s where the mission of Ronald McDonald House Charities comes in. Ronald McDonald Houses provide a space where families can stay together in private bedrooms, near their child’s hospital, for little or no cost. They can also enjoy home-cooked meals at the house each night. Ronald McDonald Family Rooms provide areas inside many hospitals that typically include showers, kitchens, internet access, televisions, laundry and more, so that families have a comfortable place inside the hospital where they can nap, make a meal and spend time together in close proximity to their child’s room and all their child’s healthcare providers.
Since 1974, RMHC has been providing these services and more to more than 74 countries through a network of 305,000 volunteers, staff members, healthcare providers and generous donors. We’re proud to do work that helps families and children in their time of need and you can help us continue that work by donating to RMHC today. Thank you.
