Tico Times:
Soon, a helping hand will be extended to families of critically ill children in Costa Rica. The country’s first Ronald McDonald House is scheduled to open in San José in 2012 and will serve as a “home-away-from-home†for families of children receiving treatment at the National Children’s Hospital.
The first Ronald McDonald House was established in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States, in 1974. Today, there are more than 300 Ronald McDonald Houses in 50 countries around the world.
Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) has been working in Costa Rica since 2002. According to RMHC Costa Rica Treasurer and McDonald’s Finance Supervisor Giovanni Quirós, the organization has been involved in numerous projects over the years, including the opening of game and learning rooms in hospitals in Pérez Zeledón and Cartago, the donation of hi-tech equipment to several national hospitals, and the creation of a “wheelchair bank†that has provided more than 600 children access to wheelchairs.