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Antonio Bachour, owner and head chef of Bachour Restaurants in South Florida and former Ronald McDonald House guest, has donated $13,000 to Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) of South Florida.
The donation originated from a month-long Mother’s Day fundraiser he hosted for RMHC at his Coral Gables and Doral restaurants, in which 10 percent of all pastry and dessert sales during May went to the charity.
In June, Chef Bachour visited the Ronald McDonald House in Miami to present the donation check and meet some of the families his significant contribution will help. Not only did this fundraiser provide much-needed funds for RMHC, but it allowed Chef Antonio to give back to a charity that housed and supported him and his mother when he survived a deadly brush with cancer as a child.
“I hosted this fundraiser for RMHC during Mother’s Day because my mother and I were so lucky to have had the opportunity to stay in a Ronald McDonald House, and I want to help give that same opportunity to other mothers and their ill children,” Chef Bachour said.
“Having to travel for treatment is a challenging experience for any family that goes through what we did, but staying at an RMHC House with other families who are going through similar situations and the support from a caring and understanding staff really makes it an easier and more pleasant experience.”
At 15 years old, Antonio stayed at Ronald McDonald House Charities in Philadelphia with his mother during lifesaving surgery at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia to remove his pituitary gland, riddled with cancer. As a Puerto Rico resident at the time, he had to travel far to receive this lifesaving surgery from a specialist that gave him only a 10 percent chance of survival — the best chance he had.
Thankfully, the hospital pointed them to the local RMHC House, where they received housing, support, food, and comfort in the days before his surgery and the month of recovery after beating the odds.
The thousands raised during Bachour’s Mother’s Day fundraiser will be used to help RMHC of South Florida provide a comfortable “home away from home” to even more families whose children are receiving lifesaving treatment at nearby pediatric hospitals, like the Ronald McDonald House in Philadelphia did for Antonio and his family.
“We are incredibly thankful to Chef Antonio and his staff for helping us give more children and families the opportunity he had,” said Soraya Rivera-Moya, executive director of RMHC South Florida. “I see children fighting illness every day, so it warms my heart to meet a former RMHC House guest who beat his illness, grow up to be a healthy and successful individual, and pay it forward by giving back to the charity.”
For more information, visit www.rmhcsouthflorida.org.
