Fries for Supplies: McDonald’s to donate portion of sales to schools

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (KTTC) – The owners and operators of 225 McDonald’s restaurants in Minnesota, western Wisconsin, and Ironwood, Michigan are partnering with a nonprofit to provide school supplies to schools.

According to the news release, the popular restaurant is partnering for the first time with Kids in Need Foundation (KINF), a national nonprofit organization based in Roseville, Minnesota, to provide school supplies to thousands of local students and teachers in under-resourced schools.

The “Fries for Supplies” initiative will run Monday-Friday, July 25-29, at all participating local co-op McDonald’s restaurants.

For every a la carte order of McDonald’s World Famous Fries during that time frame, McDonalds will donate 10% of the sales to KINF.

All funds raised will support 10,000 local under-resourced students with essential school supplies when they return to school this fall.

Supplies will be distributed to schools in communities across the co-op including, but not limited to, Brooklyn Park, Duluth, Hibbing, Mankato, Minneapolis, Rochester, St. Cloud, St. Paul, and western Wisconsin.

“We ask that our customers support us as we empower teachers and students in underserved schools through essential school supplies, allowing the classroom focus to remain on learning, not on the resources that they do not have,” Melissa Kennedy, McDonald’s owner/operator, and Minnesota CoOp President said.

In Minnesota and Wisconsin alone, there are more than 1,300 schools with a student enrollment of 50% or more receiving free and reduced meals through the National School Lunch Program. In 2021, through its programs and National Network of Resource Centers, KINF served over 7.8 million students and 316,900 teachers through 13,808 under-resourced schools and nonprofit organizations.

“For students living in low-income communities, school supplies are not a basic need; they are a luxury that many families cannot afford,” Suzanne Werdann, KINF Chief Brand Officer said. “We’re grateful to our local McDonald’s owner/operators for recognizing this need and collaborating to provide the support and tools needed for teachers to teach, and learners to learn.”