STAWELL - Stawell and district residents have been praised for their support of McHappy Day at McDonald's Stawell this year.
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Residents were able to collectively raise $1,904 as part of this year's McHappy Day to be donated to Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC). The funds will provide much needed support for RMHC to expand their programs and help seriously ill children and their families.
In addition to raising funds, volunteers from the community played a big role on the day with fire brigades, police and local businesses giving up time to help collect donations or providing items to be raffled for fundraising.
A troop of celebrities and VIPs across the country were also out in force meeting and greeting customers on the day to raise funds at more than 900 McDonald's restaurants nationally.
"I want to thank the Stawell community for all their efforts and for getting behind McHappy Day to help raise valuable funds for Ronald McDonald House Charities," licensee of McDonald's Stawell, Richard Harris said.
"The funds come just in time for the festive season and will allow us not only to continue offering our current range of programs, but will also allow us to expand our programs and services."
In total Australians raised more than $3 million this McHappy Day - this equates to funding over 23,000 tuition sessions through the Ronald McDonald Learning Program, which helps children recovering from serious illness catch up on missed schooling.
To date, McHappy Day has raised over $23 million for RMHC. In order to meet the growing need from families, over the next few years, RMHC is aiming to build or extend five Ronald McDonald Houses, open eight more Ronald McDonald Family Rooms, as well as extend and develop other programs such as the Ronald McDonald Learning program.
RMHC programs and services help families right throughout the often long journey to recovery. This includes providing a 'home away from home' in a Ronald McDonald House for a night, or even a year, so that families can stay together in a friendly environment; through to providing school catch up services through the Learning Program.