Ronald McDonald House Charities®
Ronald McDonald House Charities® helps families stay together when children are sick or injured, and McDonald’s is proud to be its founding mission partner.
Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC®) has a global network of more than 260 Chapters in 62 countries and regions and supports families in accessing medical care for children. RMHC programs provide families with somewhere to stay, in or near leading hospitals and healthcare services, helping to ensure they have access to the medical care their child needs. RMHC is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization.
- In total, McDonald’s, our Franchisees and customers donated over $168 million to RMHC in 2021, helping the Charity provide more than 1.8 million overnight stays for RMHC families around the world.
All donation and monetary figures have been converted to U.S. dollars and are approximate.
What Ronald McDonald House Charities Does
Through three core programs, RMHC provides stability and vital resources to keep families around the world together.
Ronald McDonald House® programs – More than just a place to sleep, each House is near the hospital and provides meals and support to families with sick children.
- 387 Ronald McDonald Houses.
- 48 countries.
- 9,260 bedrooms for families around the world every night.
Ronald McDonald Family Room® programs – Located within the hospital, this program offers families a place to recharge, rest and have a snack, all within a few steps of their child’s bedside.
- 268 Ronald McDonald Family Rooms.
- 29 countries.
- More than 2,300 families accommodated each day.
Ronald McDonald Care Mobile® programs – Providing medical, dental and healthcare resources to children and families in underserved communities around the world.
- 42 Ronald McDonald Care Mobiles.
- 10 countries.
- Serves more than 63,000 children a year.
Our Strategy
McDonald’s and RMHC Working in Partnership
When our communities need us, the McFamily shows up. Collective support from McDonald’s, our Franchisees, suppliers and customers helps RMHC continue offering the important programs that keep families in or near leading hospitals and healthcare services, ensuring they have access to medical care their child needs. McDonald’s ongoing support of RMHC is a central pillar of our commitment to have a positive impact on the communities where we operate and we are proud to be more than a founding partner of RMHC – we are a long-term partner. See our Community Impact page for more information. McDonald’s, alongside the partners and supporting foundations of RMHC, play a key role in helping keep families together during their sick child’s time of need.
In some countries or regions, McDonald’s donates a percentage of the sale of specific products or runs other special promotions in restaurants. We make it easy for our customers to support RMHC too, through a range of on-site and modernized giving opportunities.1
In 2021, McDonald’s donated $20 million as part of our five-year, $100 million commitment to support families when they need it most. The gift is helping RMHC deliver its mission through:
- Direct financial support (including Chapter capital expansion grants).
- Chapter capacity building (including infrastructure, branding and people development).
- Activation of significant initiatives and resource development (including financial management training and Chapter consultation).
Volunteer Partners
In 2021, nearly 29,000 McDonald’s employees – including Owner/Operators, Developmental Licensees, employees and crew – actively volunteered with RMHC Chapters. Some even volunteer as RMHC Board members, helping shape the direction and approach in line with the critical needs of children and their families in their local area. Volunteers are vital to RMHC, helping offset costs and allowing the Charity to direct more donations to services supporting children and their families.
Our Actions
The McDonald’s community has provided their time, funds and in-kind services, all of which has helped RMHC positively impact millions of children and their families since 1974. The actions we take – alongside our customers, Franchisees and suppliers around the world – have enabled us to continue to support families, despite unforeseen global challenges.
- In January 2021, McDonald’s volunteers hosted a Virtual Story Time in partnership with RMHC, where they recorded themselves reading Happy Meal Readers Books in English, Spanish and American Sign Language. The videos were sent to more than 260 Chapters around the world for families to watch when they have downtime.
- In Malaysia, approximately 15,000 McDonald’s Malaysia employees and restaurant staff volunteered throughout the month of October to raise nearly $35,000 for RMHC® Malaysia.
- In 2021, The Coca-Cola Company continued their signature Vending Program that provides beverages to local Ronald McDonald House programs to refresh families during their stay. In regions of the U.S., the Company also executed the Sleeves for Support program alongside McDonald’s Operators in their restaurants to benefit local RMHC Chapters. Through this ongoing partnership, awareness and needed resources continue to be generated that support families and their children staying at the house.
- The Martin-Brower Company has long been a committed supporter of the RMHC system through extensive volunteer hours, food donations and monetary support to Ronald McDonald House programs in 12 countries. In 2021, the Company donated $1.3 million to both RMHC and its local Chapters with more than $200,000 from employee payroll deductions.
Responding to the COVID-19 Pandemic
Throughout the pandemic, McDonald’s – along with our global community of suppliers and Franchisees – continued supporting RMHC Chapters around the world. Our efforts to help families with sick children stay together during very difficult times included:
- In 2021, McDonald’s Indonesia continued to support the RMHC® Indonesia Vaccine Center. The organization provided volunteer support, administration workers and daily meals – including snacks for all of the medical staff, volunteers and administration staff – to maintain the Vaccine Center that serves adults and children.
- McDonald’s Philippines continued to partner with RMHC® Philippines to sustain “Kindness Kitchens” operations by opening its stores’ kitchens to prepare hot meals for frontline workers and the communities most impacted by the coronavirus. With the help of nearly 250 McDonald’s employee volunteers, McDonald’s donated more than 76,000 meals to the program in 2021.
- Other RMHC Chapters, including those in Poland and Mexico, received support from their local McDonald’s partners. In spring 2021, as local cases were rising, RMHC® Poland received a grant from McDonald’s Poland and their Franchisees to purchase face masks and coronavirus tests for medical staff. In Mexico, McDonald’s donated food to first responders at the partner hospitals of RMHC® Mexico.
- Since 1977, our supply chain management partner, HAVI, has consistently supported RMHC Global and local Chapters in 46 countries with financial contributions, employee donations and volunteer support. In 2021, amid the pandemic, the organization committed an additional $1 million for charitable purposes and invited employees to identify local organizations to support. As a result, HAVI made cash donations to RMHC Chapters in 25 countries in Europe and Asia.
Giving Back to RMHC Chapters With Our Customers Around the World
McDonald’s is committed to providing McDonald’s customers with opportunities to support the mission of RMHC throughout their McDonald’s customer experience – regardless of their order and pay journey. Currently, there are many ways for our customers to support RMHC Chapters around the world. The largest ongoing fundraisers are RMHC donation boxes at restaurant counters and Drive-Thru windows, making it easy to give spare change. In 2021, more than $27 million was donated worldwide through the Donation Box program.
Modernized giving opportunities – at self-ordering kiosks and via the McDonald’s mobile app – are also available in some markets.
“Round-Up for RMHC” – which provides customers the opportunity to round up their purchase to the nearest whole number (of their local currency) at self-order kiosks, front counter and Drive-Thrus – continued in select markets in 2021, raising over $23 million across participating restaurants.
Finally, in-restaurant events and special product fundraisers in many countries continue to inspire customers to participate and give back.
- In the U.S. in 2021, to offset loss of fundraising revenue due to the pandemic, two pennies from every Happy Meal went to RMHC. In 2021, $11.9 million was provided to RMHC from Happy Meal sales in the U.S.
- In Canada, various in-restaurant fundraisers are available for Canadians to support RMHC® Canada year-round. These include the annual McHappy Day festivities, donation boxes and cashless giving at points-of-purchase, or simply by buying a Happy Meal or RMHC Cookie, with a portion of these proceeds going to RMHC Chapters across Canada. In 2021, nearly $14 million was raised by McDonald’s Canada and its independent Franchisees through direct and facilitated giving efforts.
- In Germany, more than $1.4 million was raised in-restaurant through donation boxes in 2021. McDonald’s Germany also designed, produced and sold custom RMHC® Germany patches to customers. Over the course of three months, more than $1.7 million was raised for RMHC Germany from the patches sales.
- In Australia, all McDonald’s restaurants host an annual McHappy Day, supporting RMHC® Australia. In 2021, more than $11 million was raised for RMHC Chapters across the country through McHappy Day and other direct and facilitated giving efforts locally.
- In Taiwan, McDonald’s offers customers the chance to donate to RMHC® Taiwan through donation boxes at restaurants. In 2021, customers in Taiwan donated more than $800,000 for RMHC through the Donation Box program.
- In Guatemala, McDonald’s hosted McDia Feliz and raised more than $900,000 for RMHC® Guatemala through the sale of Big Mac® sandwiches over a 10-day span in 2021.
