McHappy Day® is set to return on Wednesday, May 8, marking the 30th McHappy Day event in Canada! Visit any McDonald’s location in Barrie on May 8and a portion of proceeds from every menu item sold that day will support Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre’s (RVH) Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and Ronald McDonald House, Toronto.
Last year, more than 165 babies, including six sets of twins, required the support of RVH’s NICU, spending on average 13 days receiving critical care before going home with their families. As a Level 2 NICU, RVH provides the highest level of care for babies that arrive as early as 30 weeks, outside of a tertiary care centre like SickKids.
“When a new baby is on the way, few parents expect to need life-saving care in the NICU,” says RVH Foundation CEO Pamela Ross. “But when the unexpected happens, baby and family need advanced, specialized care close to home. Everyone who participates in McHappy Day helps to make sure that care is available for our region’s tiniest patients, so they have the best possible start in life. We couldn’t be more grateful to our community and the leaders and front-line team at McDonald’s.”
RVH’s NICU is original to the Georgian Drive facility and is long overdue to be modernized and expanded. Our region’s sickest babies are cared for in a very tight space – about 35 square feet for each of its 12 bed-spots. Current medical standards call for five times the amount of space allocated to each patient to accommodate equipment and encourage active participation of parents in a baby’s recovery and healing.
A planned re-design and expansion of the NICU will give families additional space, with more privacy to bond and heal, and updated and additional specialized equipment for resuscitation, ventilation, and monitoring. And donations from our generous community partners like McDonald’s will play a vital role in making that expansion possible.
Local McDonald’s Restaurant Owners/Operators Jason and Jennifer O’Neill, and Trevor and Andrea McKee recognize how essential this kind of compassionate care is to families in moments of crisis. “We are thrilled to be supporting the NICU expansion and bringing specialized care closer to home. McHappy Day is about bringing our community together to support children. Children are at the heart of families and our community,” says Jason O’Neill.
“Ronald McDonald House Toronto provides a second home for families who must leave their community to have their child treated for a critical illness. Over 222 families from the Barrie-Simcoe region were supported in 2023. With our community’s help, we are happy to support children and elevate their health and wellbeing,” says Trevor McKee.