Ronald McDonald House Charities CEO visits Radford

We were honoured to welcome the CEO of Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) ACT and Southern NSW, Eoghan O’Byrne, to the Junior School to address the Radford Student Council on Tuesday.

Radford College has a longstanding relationship with Ronald McDonald House Charities. This not-for-profit organisation provides accommodation to families while their children are undergoing hospital treatment for serious illness. There are 363 of these houses in 62 countries around the world.

Mr O’Byrne spoke to the students about the incredible work the charity does to help families stay together and resilient during the most difficult times of their lives.

McDonalds is the founding partner and gave the initial capital to enable the first Ronald McDonald House to open 51 years ago in Philadelphia, US. It was an oncologist, Dr Audrey Evans, who first identified the need for a place where loved ones could stay while their children undergo treatment. This was prompted from Dr Evans seeing a father sleep in his car while his eight-year-old daughter underwent cancer treatment 4.5 hours from home. This story also came to the attention of the local McDonalds owner, who arranged for the company to buy a house down the road from the hospital where this dad – and any other families whose children were patients at the hospital – could stay. And the rest, as they say, is history.

O’Byrne says their biggest challenge at the moment is demand. In Canberra, there are 10 rooms for families, and they often have a waiting list. They also rely heavily on volunteers. Radford College staff regularly cook meals at the Canberra Ronald McDonald House as part of the Meals from the Heart initiative.

This week, our students handed over hundreds of dollars’ worth of toys for sick children bought from the proceeds of the Radford Reaches Out fundraising efforts.

"We chose Ronald McDonald House because it’s supporting a lot of people and many of our teachers have a connection with the organisation. They help to cook meals for the families and share with us the great work of RMHC" – Alexis 6DO.

"We wanted to help kids who don’t have a lot of toys because they are sick in hospital. We thought it would make their stay a bit better" – Maya 6JC.