Ronald McDonald House Charities receives $100M from suburban company
AbbVie, a research-based global biopharmaceutical company in North Chicago, today announced a donation of $100 million to Ronald McDonald House Charities.
The donation, the largest single gift in RMHC's history, will provide housing and family-centered services for pediatric patients and their families during hospital treatment across the United States.
Recognizing the needs of families with a hospitalized child, AbbVie's support will further enable Ronald McDonald House Charities to provide a welcoming place for families to stay along with the critical services they need. The donation will be used to build family-centered spaces and more than 600 new guest sleeping rooms in at least 26 states and at 32 Ronald McDonald Houses. This will allow for approximately 230,000 additional night stays for pediatric patients and their families each year, helping RMHC Chapters to meet increasing demand and serve more families.
"Having a child with a serious illness is one of the most difficult experiences anyone can face," said Laura Schumacher, executive vice president, external affairs, general counsel and corporate secretary, AbbVie. "Our donation is grounded in the shared belief that families should have the necessary resources to care for a hospitalized child, along with the support to strengthen their well-being and resiliency during a challenging time."
"While RMHC serves millions of children and their families each year, we know that we only serve a small percentage of pediatric patients' families who need our services. This extraordinary gift from AbbVie will move us closer to meeting that unmet need," said Sheila Musolino, president and CEO, RMHC.
The donation was announced at the Ronald McDonald House Charities International Conference in Chicago, which runs Aug. 19-22. The conference brings together close to 1,200 attendees from 64 countries and regions.
Funding from AbbVie will also be used to enhance services that support each family's journey through care of their child, including meals, groceries, laundry services, parking, classrooms, playrooms and family-centered spaces and education initiatives.
The donation is part of AbbVie's commitment to make an additional $350 million in charitable donations to nonprofit partners in 2018, starting in May with AbbVie's announcement of $50 million donations each to Habitat for Humanity International and Direct Relief for disaster relief in Puerto Rico.