Ronald McDonald House Charities Celebrates 25 years in Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur, 10 February 2015 – Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) unveiled today the newly renovated Ronald McDonald House (RMH) located at Pusat Perubatan Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (PPUKM), Cheras in conjunction with RMHC’s 25th year anniversary in Malaysia.
Established in 1999, RMH is a home-away-from-home for children undergoing treatment for serious illnesses. The above concept enables low-income families travelling from different states in Malaysia to be closer to the patient while receiving treatment at PPUKM or in other general hospitals in the Klang Valley.
Additionally, families can have an economical alternative without needing to spend on accommodation as they are already burdened with high medical cost. To date, RMH have served more than 600 families providing comfort and support network throughout the treatment period.
Over the years, RMHC realized that an upgrade was crucial to serve the increasing occupancy in RMH. In order to do that, RMHC, corporate partners, the general public as well as donations collected during the 2013 RMHC Charity Golf tournament, plans for RMH’s upgrade was finally achieved.
One of the major improvements at RMH is a fresher and revitalized environment for the children. Upgraded child safety features such as tables and chairs with rounded edges and a fresh coat of paint with an improved colour scheme are some of the added features to the new house. Additionally, RMH will now have 19 new bedrooms with attached bathrooms as well as facilities such as the kitchen-cum-dining area, TV lounge, children’s play areas, computer and laundry rooms.
“The renovation of RMH is indeed a timely initiative for the benefit of the underserved and low-income families whose children are undergoing treatment. With the increasing medical cost,
travelling families can now save on accommodation while their child receives treatment in Klang Valley. I’m very pleased and grateful that RMH can now accommodate more families and continuously serve those in need,” said Azhari Abdul Taharim, Chairman of Ronald McDonald House (RMH) Malaysia.
“RMH is one of four important programs or focus areas that RMHC supports. The others include Ronald McDonald Gift of Smile, Ronald McDonald Sensory Room and Ronald McDonald Scholarship. Collectively, more than RM11 million has been contributed by RMHC over 25 years to help more than 20,000 less fortunate children through the implementation of these programmes,” said Chan Chee Chin, President of RMHC Malaysia 2014.