​Ronald McDonald House Charities of Arkansas was officially designated a chapter on November 25, 1981.  The original eight bedroom House opened as Parents and Friends of Children in 1979. Two years later the local McDonald's co-op stepped in to help create RMHC Arkansas.  

Our Ronald McDonald House was the 27th House, now totaling more than 380 Houses worldwide.  The chapter started through the hard work of many dedicated volunteers and board members, spearheaded by Sam Perroni.  Originally from Chicago, Sam remembers riding two hours by train with his mom to go visit his sick brother in the hospital each day.  It was mentally and physically exhausting for his family and he always wished there had been more resources to help his mom during that time.  Years later he met a doctor from Arkansas Children's Hospital who expressed the need for housing for families in a similar situation.  He stepped up to the challenge to recruit board members, raise money, and start a chapter in Little Rock. 

After two expansions and outgrowing the first House the current House, built in 2016, now has 32 bedrooms providing a place to call home to more than 1,200 families each year.  In 2009, the Ronald McDonald Care Mobile began providing free dental care to children in impoverished areas in central Arkansas.  In 2020 the first Ronald McDonald Family Room in central Arkansas opened at UAMS on the NICU floor. It provides four overnight rooms and a home-like setting for families just steps away from their sick baby. Our combined programs now serve more than 3,400 families a year. Thank you to all who have supported these programs for the past four decades and for ensuring families have what they need to take care of their children.  Here's to the next 40!

We will celebrate this momentous occasion with a blowout birthday bash at the 2022 Chocolate Fantasy Ball.  Click Here for event information. 

Ronald McDonald House from 1993-2016 Farm Bureau Women's Committee Donation in 2008 Playroom in Old House

Children staying at the House in 2007 Care Mobile in 2009 Ronald McDonald with Princess Iyana in 2008