SPRINGFIELD – More than 10,000 families have called the bright Victorian styled-house on Chapin Terrace “home;” sometimes for just a few months, sometimes up to six months.

On Jan. 13, the Ronald McDonald House of Springfield noted its 25th anniversary and announced its plans to undertake a major upgrade of its facility over the next few years.

A gala celebration and a volunteer appreciation event as well as a small capital campaign will be among the activities kicked off in the anniversary year.

Margaret “Meg” Beturne, the Ronald McDonald House of Springfield’s current Advisory Board president, said, “Honoring our founders and donors will be the focus of our Gala Celebration and the money raised will enable us to positively impact our house residents and support outreach efforts into neighboring communities. A spring volunteer event will pay tribute to innumerable persons who have touched the lives of everyone connected with our House. An appreciation reception in May will pay tribute to the Teen Board and their advisors who have contributed countless volunteer hours and raised money through ongoing fundraising efforts. Together, we will make a significant difference for those most in need of our caring services.”

The Ronald McDonald House was the result of a project by a group of volunteers from Junior League of Greater Springfield. Craig Carr, one of those volunteers who have remained active in her support of the house, explained to Reminder Publications.

She said there was a need for families whose children were receiving care at Baystate Medical Center and the Shriners Hospital for low cost accommodations. Her group did research and looked at the Ronald McDonald House in Chicago, IL, as a model.

She recalled the project took about four years to develop and opened in 1991.

She noted the project had support from Baystate, as the health system owned the property on which the house was built and leased it to the new organization for a $1 a year.

The local McDonald’s franchise owners donated $1 million to build the home, but another $1.3 million had to be raised to make the project a reality.

She said initially the group believed just the parents would be staying at the facility but the nature of hospitals was changing with more outpatient treatment and more children began staying at the home with their parents.

“That was a surprise to us,” she said.

Initially the home didn’t have an outside play area for the children, but one had to be developed, she said.

Carr said the facility has 21 bedrooms. In the common kitchen, families cook their own meals with food secured in their own storage area. The fee is $15 a night but no one is turned away due to lack of money, she added.

“It [running the house] costs us a lot more than what we actually charge,” she said.

That policy demands constant fundraising as Sean Mitchell, development manager, said. Despite having a connection to the McDonald’s restaurants, the Ronald McDonald houses cross the country receive a percentage of the sale of Happy Meals and the proceeds from the donation canisters on the counter. Each house must supplement these donations with much more.

The Springfield house merged organizations with its counterpart in Connecticut and are now working on a new house in New Haven, CT, across the street from Yale New Haven Hospital, Carr said.

In Springfield, Carr said the house would start a major renovation with each one of its 21 room upgraded, four rooms at a time, including making bathrooms better for disabled children. Mitchell said there would be a 22nd room added with a bathroom fully accessible to disabled people.

Mitchel explained that making each bathroom fully accessible would cause the house to lose five bedrooms.

Each room will cost about $30,000 to upgrade and Mitchell said there would be a capital campaign to pay for the renovations.

Looking back on her work with the house, Carr said, “It has been a lot of fun.”