Hamilton Ronald McDonald House highlights impact of McHappy Day

The largest annual fundraiser to help families stay close while their children receive hospital care is taking place Wednesday.

On McHappy Day, a portion of proceeds from menu items sold at McDonald’s restaurants will go toward supporting Ronald McDonald House, including the Hamilton location next to McMaster Children’s Hospital.

The initiative helps families like Farrah Harris’, who stayed at Ronald McDonald House in Hamilton while their daughter Zunayrah received treatment in the neonatal intensive care unit. The family was previously featured in a CHCH News story last year.

Harris says her daughter was born on Feb. 5, 2025, at just 24 weeks, weighing 1.1 pounds. The delivery was an emergency and came with significant complications. Zunayrah remained in the NICU at McMaster Children’s Hospital for nearly six months.

“Because of the nature of my delivery, I had several infections simultaneously and I was not able to drive,” Harris says.

“So being at home in Kitchener would make it extremely difficult — actually impossible — to be at her bedside. So being close to her was such a blessing for my husband, I and our daughter.”

She describes Zunayrah as “tiny but mighty” and says she is now doing well and meeting her milestones.

Ronald McDonald House South Central Ontario CEO Mario De Divitiis says the organization supports about 1,000 families each year through its house program, along with approximately 170,000 visits annually to its family rooms.

He says funds raised on McHappy Day are critical to operations, helping cover costs such as food for families, renovations, and maintaining a low nightly fee of $12 for those staying at the house.

“Without the generosity of our community on McHappy Day, we would be in a lot more of a difficult position to provide that care,” De Divitiis says.

Families who have stayed at Ronald McDonald House locations will be visiting 99 restaurants for McHappy Day, and our CHCH Morning Live team was on-site at the McDonald’s in Waterdown.