Ronald McDonald House Japan

April Dykes
5月6日
読了時間: 2分

Ronald McDonald House Charities Japan is a nonprofit organization that funds accommodation facilities for families with children undergoing medical treatments. Its concept is “A Home-Away-From-Home, a second place where people can feel at home. The Houses should be a place that families accompanying sick children can spend their time as comfortably as if they were at home.

The Houses have kitchens where meals can be cooked, dining rooms, laundry rooms, and playrooms, along with bedrooms that are designed to protect privacy” (Donald Mcdonald House Charities Japan).

The idea for the Ronald McDonald House was started in 1974 in Philadelphia by Frederick Gordon Hill, a former American football player, and Dr. Audrey Evans. Hill’s daughter, Kim, was diagnosed with leukemia, and he experienced firsthand the struggles that parents went through in order to stay at the hospitals next to their children, from sleeping in cramped spaces to eating unhealthy food from vending machines.

The emotional and financial burdens that all the families were facing inspired Hill’s idea for what became the Ronald McDonald House. Hill wanted to “create a place for families to stay near the hospital where they could get even just a little peace of mind” (Donald Mcdonald House Charities Japan). With that goal in mind, he started “fundraising activities with the help of Owner Operators of McDonald's restaurants near the hospital, hospital doctors and fellow football team members” (Ronald McDonald House Charities Japan).

This earnest wish was shared among many people, and in 1974, the world's first Ronald McDonald House was created. As of June 2023, approximately 380 houses have been opened worldwide. The concept of Ronald McDonald Houses reached Japan in 2001 when the first RMH opened in Setagaya near the Center for Child Health and Development.

Since 2001, Japan has opened 11 more Ronald McDonald Houses: Sendai, Osaka-Kento, Tochigi, Sapporo, Fuchu, Tokyo, Nagoya, Fukuoka, Kobe, Saitama, and Niigata. While these 12 Ronald McDonald Houses are far apart geographically, they all share the same desire to ease the burden and struggles the families face. They all share the same three projects: (1) Operation of Ronald McDonald Houses, (2) Public awareness and advocacy activities for volunteer opportunities, (3) Share Heart for sick kids project.

Like most charities, they can’t achieve this alone. That is where events such as the Tokyo Marathon come in. The proceeds that the Tokyo Marathon receives will be dispersed to a variety of charities and organizations. In the case of Ronald McDonald House, the proceeds will be shared throughout the 12 houses to continue their mission and their projects. The Tokyo Marathon 2025 received ¥1,168,609,562 in donations. ¥200,063,000 of those donations went towards Ronald McDonald House Japan. You can find information about volunteering and donating on the official Japan Donald McDonald House website.