Image Credit: Kent Simmonds / CFJC Today

By Dylana Kneeshaw

MCHAPPY DAY

Extra energy for local McHappy Day fundraising with upcoming family room addition to Royal Inland Hospital

May 8, 2025 | 4:59 PM

KAMLOOPS — McDonald’s locations around Kamloops and Merritt have been ‘all hands on deck’ for Thursday’s (May 8) McHappy Day fundraiser, with an extra focus on where the money raised will be helping this year.

The Ronald McDonald Family Room is expected to open next month at Royal Inland Hospital, which will serve hundreds of families in the region who travel to Kamloops for their child’s treatments or medical appointments, making for a particularly enthusiastic McHappy Day.

“The reason it is so energetic is it’s ready to open. The family room is actually ready to open. We have a date — June 13 is the grand opening. It’s no longer a dream. I’ve seen it, it’s a reality,” exclaims Kamloops and Merritt McDonald’s owner and operator, Brandy Gozda Sekhon, “Every dollar raised is going to help run it.”

Royal Inland Hospital is a tertiary hospital for Kamloops and surrounding cities, and this is the first time it will have a designated space in the hospital for families to use. Funds raised during McHappy Day will be used to provide families with meals, a place to sleep and other amenities they may need.

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“This is such a great thing for Kamloops, Merritt, Clearwater, Chase, because our surrounding areas — they use our hospital because it is so phenomenal. And having a place for a mom or a dad or a grandma or grandpa to be able to go have a meal, a shower, and not actually leave the hospital, that’s priceless. And it’s something that families deserve, and we’re just very, very lucky to be apart of it,” adds Gozda Sekhon.

A portion of the money spend on any menu items throughout May 8 will be collected for the Ronald McDonald House charities, with the grand opening of the new Ronald McDonald family room in Kamloops anticipated June 13.