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Ronald McDonald House Served 1,100 Families in 2017; Volunteers Set Record With 23,517 Hours

By Nonprofit Marketing ArizonaApril 29, 2018
Ronald McDonald House Served 1,100 Families in 2017; Volunteers Set Record With 23,517 Hours
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Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central and Northern Arizona (RMHC-CNAZ) provided a “home-away-from-home” for nearly 1,100 families and their critically ill children from 15 Arizona counties and 26 states in 2017.  Ninety percent of families staying at the Valley’s three Ronald McDonald Houses were from Arizona.

The average daily cost to house a family is $78, but no family is ever turned away because they’re unable to make the contribution.  Financial support from the community, through direct donations, grants, fund-raising events and third-party fundraisers, make up the difference.

“It’s no understatement to say that we cannot provide the services we do without the support, both financially and through the donation of volunteer hours, from the community,” said Executive Director Nancy Roach.  
The average family stay for the 1,097 families was six nights.  Families made 2,856 family visits during the year and stayed 17,798 nights.  Since opening in 1986, the total number of family visits is more than 50,000.    

Also during the year, 211 individual volunteers and 633 groups set a record by donating 23,517 hours, topping last year’s record of 16,059 hours.  The value of the hours donated, based on national standards, was $567,700.

Volunteers handle everything from preparing and serving dinners to families every night to adopting and decorating rooms, taking on chores around each of the campuses and helping out at fund-raising events organized by the house and third parties.

To volunteer at one of the three Ronald McDonald Houses – 501 E. Roanoke Avenue in Phoenix, at the Cambridge House on the campus of Phoenix Children’s Hospital and at the Dobson House on the campus of Cardon Children’s Medical Center in Mesa – contact Helain Day at hday@rmhccnaz.org.

Volunteers must be at least 16 years old.  Some of the duties include preparing rooms for guests; cleaning, sorting and organizing; helping keep kitchen and community areas clean and organized; answering phones; greeting families and visitors; and gardening.  A number of projects are available for groups of 8-60 people.
For more information, visit www.rmhccnaz.org.