Forty years. That’s how long Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Capital Region has brought smiles to families with sick children.

“We’re here because Jazz was diagnosed with neuroblastoma cancer,” said Joshua Moses, Ronald McDonald House resident.

Since the nonprofit opened its doors in 1982, it's become one of the oldest Ronald McDonald houses in the world. During that time, they’ve provided housing, food and support to over 22,000 families, often during what is the hardest time of their lives.

“Forty years. That’s a long time. It’s a very long time, and for them to be helping as many families as they’ve helped is a just a huge deal. It’s a huge deal,” Moses said.

Gary Finkell and his late wife Lucretia were involved since the very beginning, from the construction in the 1980s to serving as board president as recently as 2018.

“I’m really very proud and really happy to have had this opportunity, to have had so much time seeing this program grow from one house with eight bedrooms up to three houses with 25 bedrooms,” Finkell said.

Over the last four decades, the nonprofit has expanded to include a family room at Albany Medical Center and a vacation retreat cottage in Lake George.

Finkell said he’s seen some of the children grow up and become adults. He said what’s going to keep the organization going another 40 years are the families.

“Another big part of it is to see families give back. To stay connected, even though they’re long removed from having to stay here. They want to give back and help families now that are going through what they went through,” Finkell said.

Families like the Moses family, who are thankful to the Ronald McDonald House for giving them a break from their reality.

“When you come here for whatever reason, you know what every family is here for. It’s nothing normal, you know. It’s something pretty bad, but they, this place, has a tendency of making it to where you kind of can escape it a little bit,” Moses said.