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Locally and internationally renowned and award-winning Pastry Chef, Antonio Bachour, will be hosting a month-long Mother’s Day fundraiser benefiting the Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) of South Florida in May. Not only does this fundraiser have the potential to bring in a significant amount of much-needed funds to RMHC, but it is also a way for 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.
At 15 years old, Antonio stayed at Ronald McDonald House Charities in Philadelphia with his mother during life-saving 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 life-saving surgery from a specialist that gave him only a ten percent chance of survival—the best chance he had. This was a very challenging time for Antonio and his mother, who traveled with him, and a terrifying time to be away from home.
Thankfully the hospital pointed them to the local RMHC House; a place where they received housing, support, food and comfort in the days before his surgery and the month of recovery after he beat the odds.
“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,” said Antonio. “An RMHC House is a warm and familial environment, very different from staying in a hotel. At the House, you not only receive affection and quality care but real tangible help. Their social workers helped my mom fill out paperwork because she didn’t speak English. It was a huge weight off her already burdened shoulders.”
In honor of Antonio’s mother, as well as all mothers who need support from the Ronald McDonald House while caring for a sick child, Antonio will be donating 10 percent of all pastry and dessert sales from his two restaurants during the entire month of May: Bachour Bakery & Restaurant in Coral Gables, 2020 Salzedo St, Miami, FL 33134 and Bachour Restaurant & Bar, 8405 NW 53rd St, Doral, FL 33166.
“My mother has always been my rock, especially during my illness, and the RMHC was the support system that both my mother and I needed while I was going through surgery and recuperation,” said Antonio. “I am hosting this fundraiser for RMHC 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.”
The money raised during Bachour’s Mother’s Day fundraiser will be used to help provide a ‘home away from home,’ hot meals and support to the families who stay at the Ronald McDonald in Miami while their children are receiving life-saving treatment at nearby pediatric hospitals, like the Ronald McDonald House in Philadelphia did for Antonio and his family.
“Working for RMHC, I see children fighting illness every day. It’s always inspiring to meet an individual who stayed in an RMHC house as a child, beat their illness and grew up to be a healthy and successful individual,” said Soraya Rivera-Moya. “But it’s an even bigger inspiration when they want to pay it forward. Thank you, Chef Antonio, for helping us give more children and families the opportunity you had!”
