On Wednesday, October 4, Ronald McDonald House British Columbia & Yukon (RMH BC) will celebrate a significant milestone: 40 years of #KeepingFamiliesClose.
Since its inception, the charity has provided a home-away-from-home for more than 25,000 families across 220 communities in BC & Yukon, as they face a medical crisis. In celebration of its 40th anniversary, RMH BC is launching an engaging fundraising campaign: RMH UNITED.
Encouraging donations in a challenging economy is no easy task, especially in a country that has over 86,000 charities.
That’s why RMH BC has taken inspiration from the world of sports, where brands challenge each other to sponsor teams and the community comes together with an unrelenting passion in support of a single goal.
For its 40th anniversary, the organization is calling upon its supporters, volunteers, and communities to unite under one badge and as one team become RMH UNITED.
RMH BC first opened its doors in 1983, welcoming families to its 13-bedroom home in Vancouver’s Shaughnessy neighborhood. As the need for serving more families quickly grew, RMH BC opened a new House on the BC Children’s Hospital campus in 2014, increasing in size to 73 bedrooms.
Since then, it continues to serve up to 2,000 families each year, providing them with a comfortable space, support, and resources during the most challenging time of their lives.
In addition to spacious suites, state-of-the-art kitchens, inspiring indoor and outdoor spaces, playrooms, and lounges, the House also features an arts and crafts studio as well as various Wellness Programs that foster connection amongst the families and create a supportive space for healing.
RMH BC also operates a 4-bedroom Family Room within Surrey Memorial Hospital – a quiet area where families can relax and decompress inside the hospital while their child undergoes treatment and care.
Each year across BC & Yukon, there are an estimated 90,000 children who visit BC Children’s and BC Women’s Hospital for urgent medical treatment.
The need to serve these families is greater than RMH BC’s capacity and because it presently operates at 100% occupancy, it continues to turn away over 500+ families each year.
To overcome this obstacle, over the next few years, RMH BC has plans to build a second long-term stay house, adjacent to the existing House in Vancouver, as well as a second Family Room located within Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops, in the summer of 2024.
Designed to be a long-stay house, the second House will support hundreds of families who relocate to Vancouver—often for several months and/or years at a time.
RMH BC is recognized as an essential service and the province’s family care charity.
Over its 40-year history, it has adapted to meet the needs of families and is committed to supporting Canadian families with sick children as an integral part of and partner to BC’s paediatric health care system.
Help RMH BC continue its dream of serving the community by donating or becoming a sponsor at www.sponsorourteam.ca.
Don’t forget to join in the conversation online by tagging @rmhbc on social media with the hashtags #SupportOurDream and #SponsorOurTeam as you spread awareness of the campaign and fundraising activities.
Organizations looking to Sponsor RMH UNITED are invited to explore sponsorship opportunities that will garner widespread attention through a Virtual Jersey that will be displayed online. Just like a football club, RMH UNITED is looking for sponsors to get their name on this unique jersey and they’re not just looking for one.
Sponsorship is open to all, just like the House. And if you’re interested in donating to Support RMH UNITED, your donation will be like a rallying chant in extra time.
It will do much more than just lift spirits, it will get RMH BC one step closer to its goal of serving more families with seriously ill children. Visit www.sponsorourteam.ca to learn more.