The first Ronald McDonald House opened in Philadelphia in 1974. Philadelphia Eagles football player Fred Hill and his wife Fran’s young daughter, Kim was battling leukemia. They wanted to do something to ease the suffering of families enduring long hospital stays and treatments. With the help of Dr. Audrey Evans, head of pediatric oncology at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Leonard Tose, the Eagles’ owner, Jim Murray, the Eagles’ General Manager, and Ed Rensi, the McDonald’s Regional Manager, the initial funds were raised to buy a house near the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia for families to stay while their children were hospitalized. The Philadelphia-area McDonald’s owner/operators donated proceeds from the McDonald’s Shamrock Shake which provided much of the funding for the first house.

The Ronald McDonald House movement took off quickly after the initial house. Ronald McDonald House Charities was established in 1984 and by 1986, 100 Ronald McDonald Houses were operating. In the last 50 years, Ronald McDonald House has grown to over 250 chapters in more than 60 countries and regions, focusing on family-centered care.