Run for it and be McHappy
About 5,000 children and their parents are expected to participate in this year's McHappy Run on Saturday at Shanghai Daning Park.
The event is organized by McDonald's China and supported by the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation, and runners will wear family T-shirt with sand red and white socks to support Ronald McDonald House Charities.
This year, more than 40,000 people in 14 cities will join the McHappy Run. Over the past five years, about 160,000 people have run, covering about 450,000 kilometers — equal to running around the equator 11 times.
"This is the fifth year of the Chinese McHappy Run and its fourth year in Shanghai," said Wayne Luo, senior general manager of McDonald's Shanghai. "And this is the biggest McHappy Run of the past few years in Shanghai. The total number of participants has increased to 5,000 this year.
McHappy Run last year at the Century Park in Shanghai
"We are gathering more and more love to provide care and support for the families who are seeking medical care for their children in different places.
"In the future, McDonald's will continue to support the China Ronald McDonald House Charities to open more Ronald McDonald Houses in China's mainland."
Ronald McDonald House provides free accommodation around the world for the parents of children who have to travel from their hometown for medical treatment.
In July, the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation and Ronald McDonald House Charities signed a cooperation agreement with the Shanghai Children's Medical Center to set up three Ronald McDonald House Family Rooms in the hospital and jointly build Shanghai Ronald McDonald House.
The McHappy Run is a family program hosted by McDonald's that began in China in 2014 to support the daily operation and the more openings of Ronald McDonald Houses.
The first Ronald McDonald House in China's mainland opened in Changsha, Hunan Province, in January 2016.
Only five minutes' walk from the Hu'nan Children's Hospital, it includes 17 family suites with complete facilities and had provided free accommodation and care for nearly 300 families by the end of July this year.
