A local mother is encouraging the community to take part in this year's McHappy Day.
Mallory Arif is hoping the community will join together for McHappy Day on May 8 to help raise money for families with sick children through Ronald McDonald's House Charities - after her family needed it.
"The love and support that they gave us was like something I never could have imagined."
McDonald's franchisees and Canadians coast-to-coast-to-coast will come together to support RMHC and local children's charities, where all day a portion of proceeds from all menu items sold will be donated.
Arif's family spent 117 nights at RMHC Southwestern Ontario while their daughter, Malia, received lifesaving care after being born preterm at only 25 weeks.
She says she and her husband were overwhelmed by the love and support they felt during that difficult time.
Arif says the Ronald McDonald House is such an important part of her family's story.
"Immediately the Ronald McDonald House opened their doors to us, opened their arms, their hearts to us, and took us in, helped care for us, gave us the support that we needed so that we were strong enough - my husband and I were strong enough - to be there for my daughter, to support her in her NICU [Neonatal Intensive Care Unit] journey."
She says she's hoping the community will come together to support this cause.
"It was a lifeline for us. I truthfully didn't even know much about Ronald McDonald House and the charity before we needed it. And so the message I really want to send to people is know about this charity, I hope that you never need it, but if you do it is an amazing resource out there."
Arif says she felt such a sense of community while at the Ronald McDonald House.
"I met so many families, and so many mothers, who also had children in the NICU who I still talk to three years later. And it was just amazing to feel the support from other families, and we were able to talk about our children's milestones, their good days, their bad days, and celebrate with each other."
Without RMHC the Arif family would've spent over $10,000 to stay close to the hospital.
In Ontario over 700 communities with families like the Arif's have been supported by RMHC's programs, saving families more than $23-million annually in out-of-pocket expenses such as accommodation, meals, and travel.
Last year was a record breaking year in Windsor-Essex and Tilbury with just over $255,000 raised.