Ronald McDonald House Family Room Marks 10th Anniversary

The Ronald McDonald House (RMH) Family Room at Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children (KMCWC) marked its 10^th anniversary on January 11 with an Open House and a short program to acknowledge the enduring partnership between Ronald McDonald House Charities of Hawaii (RMHC-HI) and KMCWC.

RMHC-HI President Jerri Chong praised the association between the two organizations and the countless volunteers who have contributed to the Family Room’s success.  “While we are marking the first ten years of our cooperative effort here at the Family Room,” said Chong. “The partnership between Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children and Hawaii’s Ronald McDonald House goes back all the way to the House’s very beginning.  It has been a fruitful association it has been extremely beneficial for thousands of kids and families.”

Since opening in 2003, the RMH Family Room at KMCWC has provided respite and assistance for nearly 9,000 people annually. When serious illness or injury strikes a child and he or she is hospitalized, a family’s entire world turns upside down. Often, parents are only able to leave their child’s bedside for brief periods of time, if at all. The RMH Family Room is there to support families during these very critical times, to help family units and supportive relationships endure.

The Family Room provides a caring environment, a home-away-from-home inside the hospital where immediate family members of seriously ill inpatient children can take a break from patient care. It is a place to reflect, rest, and gather strength while still remaining close to an ailing child.

Since opening in 1987, Hawaii’s Ronald McDonald House has hosted the families of more than 10,000 seriously ill or injured children from the neighbor islands, Guam, Saipan and other Pacific islands who come to Honolulu for medical care they cannot receive closer to home. In a quarter century, this has totaled about 100,000 nights of lodging.

Hawaii’s Ronald McDonald House is the cornerstone program of RMHC-Hawaii. Located in Manoa Valley, just minutes from major children’s hospitals, it provides a “home-away-from-home” for seriously ill children and their families from the neighbor islands, Guam, Saipan and other Pacific islands who must come to Honolulu for the medical care they need.

Built with the love and support of a caring community – which began a tradition of donating thousands of hours of volunteer time with four years of planning and fundraising even before its opening almost 26 years ago – the 10-bedroom Ronald McDonald House is a haven where families can share their concerns, spend quiet time with their loved ones, and find support and comfort from others who are going through similar experiences. It fosters a nurturing environment that encourages parent-to-parent and family-to-family support. Some families have come for a short while; others have had lengthy stays. Many have celebrated successful recoveries. Others could only cherish whatever time remained to them.

RMHC-Hawaii also operates a second Ronald McDonald House with seven bedrooms on Oahu Avenue in Manoa Valley, and the Ronald McDonald House Family Room at Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children, which receives nearly 9,000 visitors each year.