JOURNAL

TOGETHER WE RISE

10 years ago, on December 17, 2014, the Ronald McDonald House with Oase Hamburg-Altona was opened on the grounds of the Altona Children's Hospital (AKK) with initially 11 family apartments. Due to high demand, this "home away from home" is now being expanded with a new level and an additional 9 apartments, each with its own kitchen, dining area, and a further lounge space. This brings the total number of apartments to 20. We are very pleased that, on behalf of and in collaboration with AKK and the McDonald's Kinderhilfe Foundation, we are able to implement this important expansion of the originally planned parent house for families of seriously ill children, a project we also had a hand in designing. We are glad that we had already planned for the building’s potential expansion, and now we can create it for the benefit of all its users.

Under the motto “Together We Rise,” the groundbreaking ceremony for the project was held on December 17, 2024, exactly 10 years after the opening. The event was hosted by Laura Papendick and Petra van Bremen, with a festive, wintery, and Christmas-themed atmosphere, and a surprise visit from Santa Claus in the courtyard in front of the building.

In addition to the board member of the McDonald's Kinderhilfe Foundation, Adrian Köstler, who had traveled from Munich, the director of the Hamburg-Altona Ronald McDonald House, Nadine Reede, and the patronesses, Christiane Dienhold, managing director of AKK, and Marc Ewers, managing director of euroterra, also shared their warm greetings with the guests, including Albert Darboven, who, as Marc Ewers mentioned in his speech, is fortunate to have his coffee—generously provided free of charge since the establishment—create a wonderful, fragrant atmosphere during preparation. Unfortunately, this does not always apply to the construction process …

This is also a special project for us, as with this expansion, up to 450 parents or families per year - almost twice as many as before - will be able to live very close to their often critically ill children, siblings, or grandchildren, providing a home away from home!

How wonderful!