About Us
A place that feels like home
A place that feels like home
Ronald McDonald House Eastern North Carolina is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that provides essential services that remove barriers, strengthen families and promote healing when children need healthcare.
Our Houses offer physical comforts and emotional support designed to promote the well-being of the whole family. These Houses provide more than a place to stay, they ensure families can stay together during some of the most difficult moments of their lives. By keeping families close to their child, they have more opportunities to spend time together, connect with their clinical care team, and participate in critical medical care decisions.
Patients receive no medical attention or treatments at the House. Ronald McDonald House is nondiscriminatory and non-sectarian.
Our Houses provide a place for families to call home while their child is hospitalized or receiving treatment in area medical facilities. We are able to provide the basic necessities a family needs as well as the emotional support that comes from being surrounded by other families in similar situations. Ronald McDonald House Eastern North Carolina is an independent, community supported 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that provides the comforts of home for families of children who are receiving treatment in our community’s medical facilities.
Since 1987, Ronald McDonald House Charities of Eastern NC has had over 31,000 admissions and each year we serve more families and patients.
The First Ronald McDonald House
In 1974, Philadelphia Eagles football player Fred Hill and his wife Fran, learned that their daughter, Kim, was diagnosed with leukemia. While traveling to Philadelphia for Kim’s treatments, procedures and doctor’s visits, they noticed several families and children in the same situations. Families drove hours back and forth from home to the hospital, sleeping overnight in waiting rooms and eating from vending machines because they had no place else to go.
Fred Hill decided to do something about this situation, and with the help of his team, local doctors, and many businesses in the area, they decided to build a “home-away-from-home” for these families. With the help of McDonald’s, they purchased and restored a house near the hospital so families caring for ill or injured children could have a place to stay. This became known as the very first Ronald McDonald House. Today, families from all over the world benefit from what Fred Hill, The Eagles, the local community, and McDonald’s started years ago.
Ronald McDonald House of Eastern NC
Ronald McDonald House Charities of Eastern North Carolina gave fathers, along with their families, a great gift on Father’s Day by opening its doors in 1987. Since opening in 1987, the Ronald McDonald House of Eastern NC has had more than 27,000 admissions and has provided more than just a place to stay for these families.
James and Connie Maynard Children’s Hospital
Ronald McDonald House Charities of Eastern NC inside the James and Connie Maynard Children’s Hospital at ECU Health opened in June 2013 inside the James and Connie Maynard Children’s Hospital. What initially started as a Family Room grew to become our second House in Greenville when we were able to add six bedrooms within the hospital.
Ronald McDonald House Charities of Eastern NC
On February 14th, 2022, Ronald McDonald House of Eastern North Carolina expanded its mission and reach, becoming the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Eastern North Carolina.
For more than 50 years, McDonald’s and Ronald McDonald House have shared a commitment to supporting families with children receiving medical care. McDonald’s, its franchisees, employees, and customers have played an important role in helping Ronald McDonald House provide programs and services that keep families close when they need each other most.
Our partnership with McDonald’s extends far beyond financial support. Local McDonald’s Owner/Operators and restaurant teams are valued community partners who help make our work possible through:
This longstanding partnership reflects a shared belief that families should be able to stay together during a child’s medical journey.
A "home away from home" for families with hospitalized children.
A place for respite within the 4 walls of ECU Health Medical Center.