Ronald McDonald House Charities of Richmond, VA Inc.

Volunteers prepare healthy lunches that include: sandwiches, snacks and fruit on a daily basis at Richmond's Ronald McDonald House, which we deliver to pediatric families at Bon Secours St. Mary’s Hospital and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit families at Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU. This relieves the financial burden from the families who are focusing on their child who is receiving medical care -- and for many families who are too distracted or concerned to step away from their child's bedside.

Through the Happy Wheels program, trained RMHC Richmond volunteers and staff push hospitality carts stocked with snacks, drinks, toiletries, activities, and toys through hospital hallways visiting families and patients on pediatric floors at the Children's Hospital of Richmond at VCU, and Bon Secours St. Mary's. For many families these small comforts provide huge relief during long hours in the hospital with uncertain outcomes. We have increased runs over the past three years due to in-hospital demand -- and are always looking for new volunteers.

RMHC Richmond offers access to 5 total private sleep rooms located within Children's Hospital of Richmond at VCU and St. Mary's Hospital for families of the most critically ill children. These rooms are steps away from the PICU and offer a place to rest and regroup. When families walk into a Ronald McDonald Family Room, we want them to forget they are in a hospital.

The RMHC Sibling Center is located in the outpatient Children’s Pavilion at Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU -- and is the first partnership of its kind in the world. Staffed by hospital Child Life specialists and trained RMHC Richmond volunteers, and stocked by RMHC Richmond supply drives, the Sibling Center was created to reduce stress and inspire fun by providing safe, developmentally appropriate environment for brothers and sisters of children receiving care in the Children’s Pavilion. The RMHC Sibling Center offers age appropriate play, arts and crafts, and hands on learning opportunities. If you interested in enrolling your child, please visit: chrichmond.org/SiblingCenter and complete the enrollment form.

Since 1980, Richmond's Ronald McDonald House has provided "a home-away-from-home" and support services for up to 9 families a night whose children are receiving medical care in Richmond, referred by social workers at all 10 area hospitals. The House is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year with on-site, awake staff. We provide a fully stocked kitchen, warm dinners and weekend breakfasts, security, ESOL services, free laundry, activity nights, hospitality access to local museums and YMCA, internet, cable, toys and holiday celebrations. We also provide transportation for families to and from the hospital. We received a 99% satisfaction rating from the families we served, and had a 88% House occupancy rate in 2018. On some months our occupancy was as high as 115% -- meaning that we ended up sponsoring a total of 218 overflow nights to area hotels to continue to help families in urgent need of a place to stay while their children received treatment.