Last Year, McDonald’s, Its Franchisees and Customers Donated Over $182 Million to Ronald McDonald House Charities

Ronald McDonald House Charities®: Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC®) helps support families when their child is sick or injured, and McDonald’s is proud to be its founding and forever mission partner.
Sep 6, 2023 10:45 AM ET
Person holding a child wearing glasses

RMHC is a global network of more than 260 Chapters that help families access medical care for their children and family support services in more than 60 countries and regions throughout the world. Ronald McDonald House Charities and RMHC are trademarks of McDonald’s Corporation and its affiliates. RMHC programs provide families with somewhere to stay in or near leading hospitals and healthcare services, helping to ensure they are fully supported along their child’s healthcare journey. RMHC is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization.

In total, McDonald’s, our Franchisees and customers donated over $182 million to RMHC in 2022, helping the charity provide more than 2.2 million overnight stays for RMHC families around the world.

All donation and monetary figures have been converted to U.S. dollars and are approximate.

2022 Highlights

  • McDonald’s Corporation donated $20 million as part of our five-year, $100 million commitment to support families when they need it most.
  • More than 28,000 individuals in the McDonald’s System – including Owner/Operators, Developmental Licensees, employees and crew – actively volunteered with RMHC Chapters.
  • “Round-Up for RMHC” – providing customers with the opportunity to round up their purchase to the nearest whole number – continued in select markets, raising over $32 million across participating restaurants.
  • More than $24 million was donated worldwide through RMHC Donation Boxes at restaurant counters and Drive-Thru windows.

What Ronald McDonald House Charities Does

Through three core global programs and hundreds of local programs, RMHC provides stability and vital resources to families around the world.

Ronald McDonald House® programs – More than just a place to sleep, each House is near the hospital and provides meals and a range of supportive services to families with a hospitalized child.

  • 384 Ronald McDonald House programs
  • 48 countries
  • 9,649 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.

  • 269 Ronald McDonald Family Room programs
  • 29 countries
  • Accommodating more than 3,400 visits by families every day

Ronald McDonald Care Mobile® programs – In partnership with a clinical services provider, these mobile units provide medical, dental and healthcare resources to children and families in underserved communities around the world.

  • 39 Ronald McDonald Care Mobile programs
  • 9 countries
  • Serves more than 76,000 children a year

Our Strategy: McDonald’s & RMHC Working in Partnership

When our communities need us, we show 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 the 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 its forever partner. See our Community Impact & Philanthropy page for more information. McDonald’s, along with individual donors and corporate partners, plays a key role in supporting RMHC in its efforts to keep families together during their child's medical journey.

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 2022, McDonald’s Corporation 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 to Chapters, including capital expansion grants.
  • Chapter capacity building and consultation services in areas such as operations, infrastructure, financial management, fundraising, branding and people development.
  • Resource development for the RMHC system and advancement of key global initiatives in financial management, leadership training and systems/ technology improvement.

McDonald’s Actions in 2022

The McDonald’s community has provided their time, funds, and in-kind services, all of which have helped RMHC to 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. Here are just a few examples from 2022:

  • More than 28,000 individuals in the McDonald’s System – including Owner/Operators, Developmental Licensees, employees and crew – actively volunteered with RMHC Chapters. Some even volunteer as RMHC Board members, helping shape the ways in which local Chapters meet the critical needs of children and their families in their local community. Volunteers are vital to RMHC, helping offset costs and allowing the charity to direct more donations to services supporting children and their families.
  • When McDonald’s Portugal redesigned the uniforms of all 9,500 crew members, the team developed an innovative circular economy initiative to recycle the more than 18,000 used uniforms. These uniforms were transformed into recycled textile yarns and converted into new textile bags, and 5,500 bags were then donated to RMHC Portugal to be used as “Family Welcome Kits” with items to improve families’ well-being.
  • Tyson Foods provided six branded food programs across Ronald McDonald House programs in the U.S. The programs enabled guest families to access quick meals around the clock and also offered refrigerators/freezers and products to the Houses in core Tyson markets.
  • UL Solutions became the first RMHC partner solely dedicated to supporting its global sustainability efforts. In alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, UL Solutions offers building assessments to evaluate the indoor air quality of several RMHC programs. The partnership galvanizes UL Solutions’ network of employees to give back and volunteer at their local RMHC Chapters, and provides educational resources to reinforce sustainability priorities for more than 260 RMHC Chapters across the globe.

Relief Response Around the Globe

As our communities navigated through adversity, McDonald’s – along with our global community of customers, suppliers and Franchisees – continued supporting RMHC Chapters around the world. Our efforts to help families with sick children during very difficult times in 2022 included:

  • McDonald’s Ukraine helped RMHC Ukraine continue core mission delivery in the ongoing conflict. For example, volunteers supported the Chapter’s continued operations of its Ronald McDonald Family Room programs. The organization supported more than 100 humanitarian aid projects; delivered more than 160,000 food kits to those in need and mobilized nearly 500 volunteers from McDonald’s who supported the Chapter’s purchase and delivery of medical equipment to hospitals.
  • RMHC Ukraine also plans to build its first Ronald McDonald House through a partnership with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and support from McDonald’s Ukraine.
  • Several European RMHC Chapters partnered with our packaging supplier, TMS/HAVI, in their contribution to relief efforts in Ukraine. For example, HAVI partnered with RMHC Portugal and RMHC Spain to transport over 80 pallets filled with essential items like canned goods, blankets, mattresses, sanitary products, towels, winter clothes, and more. The goods were split between two organizations for distribution throughout Ukraine.
  • Several hundred McDonald’s restaurants across Texas banded together in response to the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas. $150,000 was raised for RMHC San Antonio and the Uvalde community through a McDonald’s lunchtime fundraiser, which donated 10% of sales to the cause. RMHC San Antonio served family members from Uvalde and created a special fund to help those impacted.
  • In support of those individuals affected by Typhoon Noru (known locally in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Karding), McDonald’s and RMHC Philippines stepped in to provide 3,000 meals to communities in Bicol, Bulacan, Iloilo, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga and Tarlac. The efforts came through the local Chapter’s Kindness Kitchen project: an initiative focused on spreading kindness by serving meals to communities in need across the country.

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.

There are many ways for our customers to support RMHC Chapters around the world. For example, “Round-Up for RMHC” – providing customers with 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 2022, raising over $32 million across participating restaurants.

Additionally, RMHC Donation Boxes at restaurant counters and Drive-Thru windows make it easy to give spare change. In 2022, more than $24 million was donated worldwide through the Donation Box program.

Finally, in-restaurant events and special product fundraisers in many countries allow customers to join McDonald’s in giving back to RMHC.

  • In the U.S., one penny from every Happy Meal® at participating McDonald’s went to RMHC totaling $5.9 million. Additionally, McDonald’s customers in the U.S. donated more than $33 million to RMHC through Round-Up for RMHC and Donation Boxes.
  • Over $11 million was raised by McDonald’s Canada, its independent Franchisees, and customers through in-restaurant giving efforts. These include the annual McHappy Day festivities, Donation Boxes, and Round-Up for RMHC, or simply by buying a Happy Meal or RMHC Cookie.
  • McDonald’s Australia, its Licensees and customers provided support through McHappy Day and other giving efforts locally, which raised more than $10 million. In New Zealand, 170 McDonald's restaurants supported RMHC New Zealand through a Happy Meal promotion, donating 10 cents (NZ) from every Happy Meal sold. In total, more than $450,000 was raised.
  • McDonald's restaurants in South Africa and Egypt hosted Happy Meal promotions that benefited each country's RMHC Chapter, raising more than $560,000.
  • In Argentina, $544,000 was raised from the sales of Big Mac® sandwiches during a 14-day McHappy Day fundraiser in which 225 McDonald's restaurants participated. Additionally, more than 1,000 restaurants in Brazil participated in McHappy Day, raising $3.8 million.

Footnotes

1 Donation and impact information on this page includes self-reported totals provided by local, independent RMHC Chapters that are not independently audited by RMHC Global or McDonald’s Corporation.

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