McDonald’s delivers holiday traditions to RMHC

McDelivery

This year, McDonald’s Canada used its McDelivery service to deliver the “gift of family.”

The QSR chain worked with Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC), which houses families with children affected by serious illness while they undergo treatment in hospitals far from home, to reunite two families staying at the Ronald McDonald House in London, Ontario, over the holidays.

A campaign telling each family’s story is appearing on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Spotify, starting today. Led by Cossette, McDonald’s Canada’s AOR, the videos show the two RMHC families reuniting with their loved ones and carrying out their usual family traditions thanks to the support of McDelivery.

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Cathy Loblaw, president and CEO of RMHC, says the organization wanted to create more awareness of what it means for families with a sick child to stay together as a family during the holidays. This is something RMHC helps make possible by providing families with somewhere to stay, creating a sense of normalcy for the children during what is often a challenging time, she says.

McDonald’s estimates that 65% of Canadian families live outside a city with a children’s hospital and must travel for treatment if their child is seriously ill. And last year, through its 15 Ronald McDonald Houses and 17 RMH family rooms, the organizations helped more than 25,000 families across Canada.

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In addition to bringing back an appreciation campaign first launched in 2015, RMHC worked with Google and Toronto Raptors player Pascal Siakam this year to showcase the tech company’s charitable side. And earlier this month, as part of its ongoing “Christmas Miracle” work, WestJet asked Canadians to consider donating their gifts to families at Ronald McDonald House.

The goal of this particular effort, Loblaw says, was to “make our families time of healing a little brighter and more joyful during the holiday season, while sharing with Canadians what it means to be away from home with a sick child and the importance of keeping families close.”