Cheeriodicals care packages are designed with comfort and care in mind for families staying at Ronald McDonald Houses.
By Tori Gilbert
Director of Events and Operations
Most people think of children’s hospitals or Veterans hospitals when they think of Cheeriodicals events, but did you know we also conduct events that benefit Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) all over the US and Canada?
In fact, our Cheeriodicals events that benefit Ronald McDonald Houses (RMHs) are some of our favorite community givebacks because they not only impact the pediatric patient, but they also directly impact the families of the patients.
In the last 12 years, we’ve delivered more than 10,000 Cheeriodicals to 75 Ronald McDonald Houses across the United States and Canada. That’s a lot of families and children!
The Interesting Background of The First Ronald McDonald House
The Ronald McDonald House has a remarkable back story. In 1974 Fred Hill, a Philadelphia Eagles football player, had a daughter who was diagnosed with Leukemia. As she began her cancer treatments in Philadelphia, Fred began to notice all of the other families who also had children in the hospital. Many of these families had traveled from out of town to be there for their kids.
But what really stood out to him was that a portion of these parents were unable to afford basic needs, such as housing or food, while they were visiting their seriously ill child in the hospital.
Along with the help of Fred’s teammates, his wife, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and McDonald’s, the first Ronald McDonald House opened in Philadelphia in 1974 – giving families a place to call “home”.
Left: Fred Hill and his daughter, Kim Hill. Right: Photo of the first Ronald McDonald House.
Partnership with McDonald’s
Next time you are craving a McDonald’s burger or fries, did you know you can make an impact? The RMHC receives support from the Penny per Happy Meal program through the purchase of every Happy Meal. This fundraiser receives 4 pennies from every Happy Meal sold locally at participating McDonald’s restaurants. There are also RMHC Donation Boxes placed on counters and at the drive through at participating McDonald’s restaurants. Customers can also donate by choosing to Round-Up for RMHC when you place a kiosk order or with a crew member. Lastly, customers can make fixed donations when ordering on the mobile app.
The Three Core Ronald McDonald House Programs
Ronald McDonald House Charities are located worldwide and care for families with three core programs. There are 380+ Ronald McDonald Houses in 64 countries. 265+ Ronald McDonald Family Rooms in 28 countries. And did you know, it isn’t just houses and family rooms? They also have 40+ Ronald McDonald Care Mobiles in 10 countries.
Ronald McDonald Family Rooms
The RMH Family Rooms are located inside hospitals. These rooms give families somewhere to rest and regroup at the hospital. These Family Rooms often provide internet access, a printer, TV and snacks.
Ronald McDonald Care Mobile
In ten countries, there are over 40 RMH mobile care units. These mobile care units provide essential services in local communities and items to families who are in need.
Cheeriodicals Kits for Ronald McDonald House
The Cheeriodicals kit for Ronald McDonald House families includes comfort items and care essentials.
Realizing what a blessing a Ronald McDonald House can be to a family with a seriously ill child, we wanted to get involved! We decided to create a Cheeriodical team building event option that will benefit parents staying at a RMH.
When we first began conducting events that benefit RMHC, we spent a lot of time thinking through what a family who was traveling to another city to stay with their hospitalized child would need.
We spoke to several RMH representatives and learned that most families needed the obvious convenience items such as a toothbrush, toothpaste, blanket and warm socks. But what we also learned was that these families needed things to help them pass the time while staying in the hospital room with their child.
For entertainment items, we decided to include adult coloring books, activity books, puzzles, and playing cards. Realizing that the parents would be traveling back and forth from the RMH to the hospital, we opted to forgo our classic bright green box, and we created a large tote bag to hold everything for easy transport.
Left: Ronald McDonald House Charities of Dallas. Right: Ronald McDonald House Charities of South Florida
The Impact of Cheeriodicals Care Bags for Families
Every Ronald McDonald House heavily relies on the donations and fundraising events from their local community to better serve their families. When a Cheeriodicals donation is made to a RMH, it is not only going to impact the families, it is also going to impact their staff to ensure that their families staying have essential items and comfort items to help them get through their day.
Members of the Culture Partners team strike a pose with Ronald McDonald himself at the Ronald McDonald House in San Diego, California after delivering 50 Cheeriodicals family bags and kids boxes.
“Really a truly special experience when these families get to open these [Cheeriodicals] boxes. It brings tears to their eyes and it is a part of their journey. We are not able to do what we do without our community.”
Jami Carlson, Community Engagement Manager
Ronald McDonald House Phoenix
Impact for Your Corporate Team – How Our Events Work
Members of the Medtronic team came together to pack more than 200 Ronald McDonald House family bags for both RMHC of Dallas and RMHC of Fort Worth in Texas.
All of our Cheeriodicals team building events are impactful, but when your team comes together to give back to a Ronald McDonald House, your team will be impacting both the families and the child receiving treatment at a local hospital!
During our hour-long team building events, a Cheeriodicals event leader guides your team through assembling the perfect Cheeriodicals kit. After a short presentation from a Cheeriodicals event leader, we invite a guest speaker from the Ronald McDonald House to explain how impactful your team’s efforts will be for families staying at their house.
Cheeriodicals manages all logistics, provides all of the instructions and supplies, and attends your event to guide your team throughout the entire event experience.
Once your team has assembled the Cheeriodicals kits and added in all of the amazing items, we provide notecards with your corporate branding to your team for them to write heartfelt messages for the families. These notecards are included in each Cheeriodical to ensure that the RMH families realize that the community cares about them.
After all the Cheeriodicals are assembled, Two Men and a Truck (a national moving company with more than 300 franchises nationwide) graciously volunteers their services and a truck to pack up the Cheeriodicals from your team building event location and transport them to the RMH.
Two Men and a Truck volunteering their time to move Cheeriodicals care bags to a Ronald McDonald House.
Depending on your team’s availability and restrictions at the RMH, we’ll meet 4-5 members of your team at the RMH to meet the staff and in some cases, deliver the Cheeriodicals directly to families staying at the house. This is everyone’s favorite part of a Cheeriodicals team building experience! Being able to personally encourage the RMH families while delivering the Cheeriodicals to them is an incredibly moving experience.
Members of Fisher Phillips pose with their boxes and frogs as they assemble 150 Cheeriodicals kits that were donated to Ronald McDonald House Charities of Phoenix.
Watch this highlight video from our recent event with Fisher Phillips in Phoenix and see the magic of our events for yourself!
Not only do our events impact the community, they are emotionally rewarding for your team and create a bonding experience and memories that will last for years to come. What better way to bring your team together than giving back to those who need it the most. That is why we are “Team Building that Matters”.
Curious about Cheeriodicals?
We conduct corporate events for teams of 20 – 1,500+ attendees across the United States and Canada. Contact corporateplanner@cheeriodicals.com to see how we can help your corporate team make a difference for families staying at a Ronald McDonald House near you!
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