History
Our History
In 1973, Fred Hill, a Philadelphia Eagles football player, and his wife, Fran, learned that their daughter, Kim, had leukemia. While traveling into Philadelphia for treatment at the Children’s Hospital, they met other families with sick children in the same situation. These families drove hours to the hospital to be with their children, only to have to sleep overnight in waiting room chairs and eat from vending machines because they had nowhere else to go.
Fred Hill and his football team decided to do something for these families—build them a “home-away-from-home” in Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Eagles teamed up with local McDonald’s owner/operators to raise money to purchase and restore a house near the hospital where these families could stay. The first Ronald McDonald House was born.
Since that time, over 300 Houses have been built world-wide, including the one located in Buffalo.
To visit the global Ronald McDonald House Charities site, click here.
Ronald McDonald House® of Buffalo
Since 1983, the Ronald McDonald House of Buffalo has been a welcome home for more than 17,000 families from Western New York and around the world. In the early 1980s, Bob and Bunny Jones, McDonald’s restaurant owners, proposed establishing a Ronald McDonald House in Buffalo. Believe it or not, in the beginning it was difficult for them to get supporters. But they made the House their crusade because they knew how important it was for out-of-town families to have a safe, caring place to stay while in Buffalo for treatment for their sick children.
Eventually they were able to organize local business owners, physicians and interested individuals, and on Dec. 8, 1983, the Ronald McDonald House of Buffalo opened its door to families. [click here for more history on the Ronald McDonald House of Buffalo]
Part of a world-wide network of Ronald McDonald Houses the House is known as The House That Love Built®. Like other Ronald McDonald Houses, the Buffalo house is owned and operated by a volunteer Board of Directors. And, like all other Ronald McDonald Houses, it is 100 percent supported by our local community.
Volunteers (Read about our Volunteer Program) are an important part of the life of the Ronald McDonald House, contributing thousands of hours of service each year towards the operation of the Buffalo house.
The Ronald McDonald House of Buffalo can accommodate 15 families each night; families may stay for one night or as long as they require our services. Families are asked to contribute only $15 per night per family. Contributions from donors fill the gap between what families are asked to pay and the actual day-to-day cost to operate the Ronald McDonald House.
We thank our donors for their generous contributions that have kept this wonderful House operating for more than 25 years. We ask for your continued, generous support so that future families can depend on the Ronald McDonald House of Buffalo.
Did you know?
There are many ways to help out at the Ronald McDonald House of Buffalo. By giving back, you are helping to create a world-of-difference for families that are in need of that support.