How McDonald’s Canada and its independent franchisees support their local communities
The holiday season is a time for giving, and as Canadians deal with rising food prices, the need for food banks in Canada has hit an all-time high.
To help continue to address food insecurity coast to coast, McDonald’s Canada and its franchisees’ ambition is to provide approximately 1 million meals every year to Canadians without adequate access to food.
On December 12, McDonald’s Canada launched The Giving Page in partnership with Food Banks Canada, to help them further this goal. For every Canadian who visited the site, they had their unique site visit count as one meal for families in need.
With the help of Canadians, McDonald’s Canada and its independent franchisees were able to donate 500,000 meals through Food Banks Canada this holiday season.
Food insecurity is just one of the ways local McDonald’s independent franchisees across Canada empower the communities they’re based in. We spoke with three independent franchisees about how McDonald’s Canada has helped them better their community.
Supporting the unhoused
To help raise money for local charities serving people experiencing homelessness, Coldest Night of the Year is a yearly event that organizes tens of thousands of Canadians to walk in the cold night to support unhoused people.
Understanding the importance of this initiative first-hand, Kerry Prober, who became a McDonald’s franchisee in St. Mary’s and Stratford as part of the second-generation program, wanted to use her position to raise awareness.
“As part of my background in social work [at Family Services Perth-Huron] and working with the Chamber of Commerce, I have been able to make connections in the community based on my values of believing that everyone deserves shelter and food to eat, [and] as a restaurant we can assist,” Prober tells Daily Hive. “My goal is to feed my local communities by providing a place of comfort and joy. A place for everyone to gather.”
The hard work of Prober and her McDonald’s crew helped raise over $21,000 in February for The Coldest Night of the Year, which went to supporting homelessness and vulnerable residents. Through McDonald’s Canada’s encouragement, Prober’s has also been able to connect with other female franchisees to help do better for her community.
“I am lucky to be with McDonald’s and able to be a part of a great and giving community in St. Mary’s, Stratford, and New Hamburg,” says Prober. “It means being an active member of the community and providing some joy during times of celebration and comfort, in times of need.”
Giving back to locals
After 20 years in tech consulting, Colin MacWhirter reached out to an old McDonald’s colleague he worked with in his youth who was now a franchisee in Windsor. After touring his community, he felt the desire to return with his own franchises. “While there were many things that had changed, the passion for McDonald’s remained the same,” MacWhirter tells Daily Hive.
Since purchasing the restaurants in 2019, MacWhirter’s goal has been to build relationships with the North Bay and Sturgeon Falls communities by stepping in and supporting a number of causes and events.
“We immediately began looking for opportunities that demonstrated we didn’t just want to operate in the community, we also wanted to give back to the community. Our first initiative was in March 2020, and we donated over $1,300 to the local cadets.”
This year, MacWhirter and his team were able to collect over 1,500 toys to be donated to eight different charities — ranging from children’s aid to women’s shelters. Giving Tuesday this past year also saw his team reach a total of 1,000 Egg McMuffins and coffees donated to Front Line workers since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“McDonald’s Canada has developed an amazing reputation over the last 55 years which enables us to make a difference more quickly in our communities when they already know who we are,” says MacWhirter. “They have an amazing support system that will provide experience, insights, and relationships to enable local franchisees such as myself to connect with the community more effectively … this is an amazing organization and I feel fortunate to be part of it.”
Empowering young Canadians
According to Stats Canada, the number of young Canadians aged 15 to 24 who reported having excellent or very good mental health declined from 62% in 2018 to 40% in late March and early April 2020. But studies show that proper socialization and mentorship can help boost the mental health of young Canadians.
At least that’s what Windsor franchisee Jason Trussell thought, who was a Big Brother in the Big Brother Big Sisters Windsor Essex program when he was in high school — back when he worked the front counter at McDonald’s.
“My goal is to be part of the fabric of our community, supporting organizations that are relevant to our brand and our employees,” Trussell tells Daily Hive.
Wanting to help, Trussell and his team raised over $17,000 to support Big Brothers Big Sisters Windsor Essex for their summer camp programs. Because camps returned to in-person this year, the donation helped to solely fund activity supplies, food, and transportation to help foster better relationships within the program for 45 children and youth.
“We are able to leverage our brand and size to do good in our community,” says Trussell. “With over 1,000 employees, that is over 1,000 ambassadors in our community to understand where some of the needs are and help influence change.”
To learn about how one of the biggest franchises in the world is feeding and fostering local communities in Canada, head to McDonald’s Canada.
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