Our History
Over 46 years of keeping families close
Over 46 years of keeping families close
Atlanta Ronald McDonald House Charities celebrates 46 years of keeping families close by breaking ground on a new House for the next generation of children and families on the Arthur M. Blank Hospital campus.
Atlanta Ronald McDonald House Charities surpasses 50,000 total families served and marks the 10th anniversary of the opening of the Ronald McDonald House on Gatewood Road.
The Ronald McDonald Family Room opens at Children’s at Scottish Rite to serve families with children being treated at the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorder Center.
The Ronald McDonald Care Mobile, a 40-foot long, 8-foot wide, medical clinic is launched to bring asthma care and education to children at schools in the Atlanta Public Schools System where the need is the greatest.
The original Ronald McDonald House on Peachtree Dunwoody Road is replaced with an $18.5 million 31-bedroom LEED Silver certified facility, featuring an ADA accessible three-story tree house.
The original Houston Mill House is replaced by a $15.7 million LEED certified 50-bedroom facility on Gatewood Road, featuring a transplant wing to serve children who have received heart, liver, kidney as well as bone marrow transplants.
A second 11-bedroom Ronald McDonald House opens on Peachtree Dunwoody Road.
The first Atlanta Ronald McDonald House opens on Houston Mill Road as the fourth House in the world originally with eight bedrooms. As demand grew, this House eventually expanded to 16 bedrooms.
It all began in Philadelphia in 1974 when three-year-old Kim Hill — daughter of Philadelphia Eagles football player Fred Hill and his wife, Fran — was being treated for leukemia at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children.
During Kim’s three years of treatment, the Hills often camped out on hospital chairs and benches and ate makeshift meals out of vending machines, all while watching other parents do the same. They learned that many families traveled great distances to bring their children to the medical facility and couldn’t afford hotel rooms.
The Hills knew there had to be a better way. Fred rallied the support of his Eagles teammates to raise funds. Through Jim Murray, the Eagles’ general manager, the team offered its support to Dr. Audrey Evans, head of the pediatric oncology unit at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. Evans dreamed of a comfortable temporary residence for families of children being treated at her hospital.
Murray enlisted Don Tuckerman from the local McDonald’s advertising agency, who with the support of McDonald’s Regional Manager Ed Rensi, launched the St. Patrick’s Day Green Milkshake (now known as the Shamrock Shake) promotion. Funds raised went toward purchasing an old house located near the hospital.
And, thus, the first Ronald McDonald House came to be.
By 1979, 10 more houses opened. By 1984, local communities founded another 60 houses; then 53 more opened by 1989. Today, more than 377 Ronald McDonald House programs operate in 45 countries and regions around the world, providing comfort and support to more than 10 million families since 1974.
Dr. Audrey Evans was an incredible woman who transformed pediatric healthcare.
In 1969, she became the first Chief of the Division of Oncology at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. There she made incredible breakthroughs in treating neuroblastoma. Dr. John M. Maris, who studied under Dr. Evans, shared, “She was a driving force in leading the revolution that changed childhood cancer from being a nearly uniformly fatal disease, to one where we cure 80% of patients.”
Her care extended to prioritizing the emotional and psychological needs of the whole family. She dreamed of place for families to stay close to their children getting care. Co-founding the first Ronald McDonald House, her dream became a reality.
Dr. Evans, who died in 2022 at the age of 97, once said, “I was given a mission, and the ability to serve it. To make a difference in the lives of children.”
Parents don’t know when their children will need medical help. But they should know they can always access the care they need. And with your help, we can support them all throughout their journey.