Ronald McDonald House Charities HK - serving families with critically ill children

What a privilege it was to tour the fantastic new Ronald McDonald House in Kwun Tong with Charitable Choice Chair Rowena Hoy. Thank you to Iris Wong and Damon Lui for giving us a better understanding of the amazing range of services RMHC HK provides to families with ill children.

What I learned

• RMHC began as a fundraiser for a 3 year old suffering from leukemia in Philadelphia USA whose family had to travel long distances for regular hospital visits
• Whilst McDonald's has been and still a dedicated sponsor, this accounts for less than 20% of total funds needed
• RMHC Hong Kong is part of a network of 386 houses worldwide
• The new RMHC at Kwun Tong is located 7 minutes away from the new Children's Hospital

What they do

• Provide conveniently-located accommodation for families with children suffering from critical illnesses and requiring long term and/or regular hospital care.
• Other support services include the provision of healthy food, academic support, wellbeing and enrichment activities.
• Average occupancy rate is 90% and over 9,000 beneficiaries have been served since their establishment in HK 27 years ago.
• Beneficiares must be referred by social workers and doctors at public hospitals.

What they need

1. Donations in kind - food (rice, oil, healthy organic snacks, juice, fruits), new toys & books suitable for teens, toiletries. (If you would like to organise a food drive, please contact Damon Lui for their current wish list)
2. Financial donations - support a family for $250 per day, sponsor wellbeing or enrichment activities for children, volunteer as a group to purchase and prepare meals for resident families.

I hope you can help RMHC in some way. Donate now.