June 2010:
Reopening of the Ronald McDonald House
The Ronald McDonald House in Seestrasse has been extended to cover seven instead of three storeys, with an increase in the number of apartments from 28 to 34 and the addition of a modern pavilion. The reopening was celebrated by invited guests. The patron Yvonne Ransbach and the chairman of the Ronald McDonald Children's Foundation greeted around 100 guests, among them Prof. Dr. Felix Berger, director of the DHZB’s pediatric department, and Thomas Höhn, the administrative director. At the same time the new head of the house, Jenny Mädel, was introduced and the father of a child with heart disease recounted his child’s story. The “Gabriele” restaurant of Adlon Hotel donated a Mediterranean buffet.
The Ronald McDonald House in Berlin, which was founded in 1998, is a “home away from home” for families whose children are being treated at the DHZB or the Charité, Campus Virchow Hospital, often because of serious heart disease or cancer. At present there are 297 Ronald McDonald Houses worldwide and 145 McDonald “oases,” which work on the premise that the proximity of children’s parents aids their healing process.
