How It All Began…

In 1973, Philadelphia Eagles football player, Fred Hill, and his wife, Fran, learned that their daughter, Kim, had leukemia. While traveling into Philadelphia for treatment at the Children's Hospital, they met other families with sick children in the same situation. These families drove hours to the hospital to be with their children, only to sleep overnight in waiting room chairs and to eat from vending machines because they had nowhere else to go.

Fred Hill and his football team decided to do something for these families...build them a "home-away-from-home" in Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Eagles teamed up with local McDonald's owner/operators to raise money to purchase and restore a house near the hospital where these families could stay. Hence, the first Ronald McDonald House was born. Since that time, more than 180 Houses have been built world wide.

The first Ronald McDonald House in St. Louis opened in July of 1981 with seed money from local McDonald's owner/operators and donations from corporations, organizations, individuals and foundations.

The original House on West Pine underwent two expansions over the years increasing the number of bedrooms each time. In April of 1996, a second House on Park Avenue was opened and in 2003, eight apartments were made available for long-term stays.

Since the St. Louis House first opened its doors in 1981, over 20,000 families from all over the U.S. and several foreign countries have benefited from the services and hospitality provided by volunteers and staff of our Houses.