Fast Facts

The mission of Ronald McDonald House Charities of Western Washington & Alaska is to support families with seriously ill children by providing a caring "home-away-from-home" at the Seattle Ronald McDonald House and by operating a grants program benefiting children's health-related nonprofits in Western Washington and Alaska.
Ronald McDonald House Charities of Western Washington is an independent charity governed by a board of directors.

A "home-away-from-home" for families and their seriously ill children, who are being treated at Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle.
The Seattle House can accommodate 80 families nightly and serves more than 1,100 families annually, providing a vital asset to the region.
The House offers families their own individual rooms and shared spaces including a kitchen and dining area, pantry, computer lab, laundry facilities and play areas. It also includes dedicated housing for pediatric bone marrow transplant patients and their families.
We ask families to pay $20 a night to stay at the House. However, only one in five families staying at the House is fully able to pay. No one is ever turned away due to an inability to pay. (Actual cost: to house a family for a night: $80.)
The House is one of 259 Houses in 28 countries worldwide.

Out-of-town families with children who are being treated at Seattle Children's Hospital are eligible to stay at the Ronald McDonald House. Families may include parents, siblings, grandparents and other extended family members.
Most families come from Washington, Alaska, Montana and Idaho.
Children staying at the House all have serious or chronic illness. Some examples are leukemia and other cancers, heart conditions and organ transplants.
Approximately half of the children are under age 5; children ages 6 to 12 and teens each represent about 25 percent.

The majority of Ronald McDonald House Charities of Western Washington & Alaska's operating support comes from individuals, corporations and foundations with between 15 percent and 20 percent contributed by local McDonald's owners/operators through in-store canister sales and promotions.
Volunteers are the backbone of our charity -- more than 250 volunteers contribute their time and services every month. In 2006, the hours they donated were the equivalent of 11 full-time employees.