Each year, hundreds of children travel to Tulsa to be treated for serious illnesses or injury. For their families, anxiety over the child’s illness is often compounded by lengthy hospital stays, months of outpatient treatment, and the expense of being away from work and home. To be close to their sick children, families would spend their days and nights in hotels, their cars, or hospital waiting rooms if it were not for Ronald McDonald House of Tulsa.
The nonprofit serves between 550 and 600 families per year, providing them with overnight accommodations, nourishing meals, well-stocked refrigerator and pantry, laundry facility, transportation, and staff support to navigate a difficult time. To qualify to stay at the house, guests must be referred by a Tulsa area hospital.
The Tulsa house is a chapter member of Ronald McDonald House Charities, Inc., an alliance of houses in 64 countries serving 5.5 million families annually. The Tulsa chapter operates through its board of directors and advisory board, comprised of parents, health professionals, McDonald’s representatives, business and civic leaders, and community volunteers. Income streams consist of donations and endowment earnings.
Almost everything at the house has been donated as an in-kind gift: from food, toothpaste, and detergent to furniture, TVs, and even a van to help with transportation. Cash is generated through giving programs, fundraisers, planned giving, and bequests.
The Tulsa area community and the Ronald McDonald House of Tulsa work together to support those families whose focus should be on their sick child, not lodging. Learn more at rmhctulsa.org
