While McDonald’s doesn’t fully fund our Ronald McDonald House, they are certainly one of our biggest supporters. In addition to everything they do for the House as a group, many of the owners and employees take additional steps to provide extra support and get even more involved personally. On July 18, Operator Chuck Turnage went above and beyond by hosting car washes at five of his McDonald’s stores (You may now begin singing the “Car Wash” song in your head. I’ve been singing it in mine for weeks!).
Each location washed cars in exchange for a minimum donation of $10 to Ronald McDonald House. Everyone who donated also received a coupon for a free extra value meal at McDonald’s. Guests who made a $20 donation or higher got a minion t-shirt! Crew members, managers, marketing staff and even Chuck himself washed cars and drummed up support for the House. Each location had a radio remote onsite for a couple of hours and a McDonald’s character such as Hamburglar, Grimace or Birdie.
It was melt your face off hot on July 18, and a shockingly large number of sweat bees were buzzing around, but neither had any effect on the morale of the car wash crews (“Workin’ at the car wash, yeah” – You know you want to sing the song!). As I made visits to a couple of the sites I was so encouraged to see the enthusiasm of the crews. They gave 110% and they really made the day fun for themselves and the customers. Seeing this kind of support in action really jazzed me up and reminded me of how fortunate I am to be a part of the Ronald McDonald House family.
Chuck, his awesome crew members and the generous McDonald’s customers raised $4,000 for RMHC in just four hours! On behalf of the entire RMHCK staff, volunteers, board or directors – and most importantly, on behalf of the families we serve, Thank you to Chuck and his awesome team for the tremendous support and a job well done!
