For nearly 11 years, hundreds of Rio Grande Valley families have called the Ronald McDonald House in Harlingen “home.”

But our communities are growing rapidly. New and expanded pediatric health care facilities are appearing across the Valley. One single Ronald McDonald House can no longer meet the needs of all Valley families.

A Ronald McDonald Family Room can provide everything a Ronald McDonald House offers – and more. When parents pass through the door to a Ronald McDonald Family Room, the hospital atmosphere melts away. Instead, the Family Room creates a home-like atmosphere within the hospital.

In 2005, a group of community leaders joined together in a task force to study these issues. The group met with hospital CEOs from across the Rio Grande Valley to determine the needs and to search for a way that Ronald McDonald House Charities might meet those needs.

Thanks to the support of many who contributed to the Ronald McDonald Family Room Capital Campaign, the first Family Room opened its doors to our Valley families February 26, 2009, at Edinburg Children’s Hospital in Edinburg, Texas.