McDonald’s restaurants in Minnesota and Western Wisconsin are partnering, for the first time, with Folds of Honor, a nonprofit that provides educational scholarships for children and spouses of fallen or disabled American military service members and first responders. From Tuesday, November 1-Friday, November 11 (Veterans Day), McDonald’s owner/operators in Minnesota and Western Wisconsin will donate a portion of sales to Folds of Honor, up to $100,000.

Contacts: Folds of Honor

Anthony Raiolaaraiola@foldsofhonor.org 952.913.5398

McDonald’s Minnesota Co-Op

Jeff Grayson jeff@kellergrayson.com 952.240.0848

Andy Skoogman andy@kellergrayson.com 651.485.7667

SUPPORTING MILITARY MEMBERS & FIRST RESPONDERS:

Local McDonald’s® Owner/Operators Begin Folds of Honor® Fundraiser

November 1-11 initiative to assist with families’ education costs

[MINNEAPOLIS, MN] – [October 28, 2022] - Owner/operators of 225 McDonald’s® Minnesota Co-Op restaurants in Minnesota, western Wisconsin, and Ironwood, Michigan are partnering for the first time with Folds of Honor, a leading national nonprofit organization that provides educational scholarships for children and spouses of fallen or disabled American military service members and first responders.

From Tuesday, November 1-Friday, November 11 (Veterans Day), owner/operators of participating McDonald’s restaurants will donate a portion of sales to Folds of Honor, up to $100,000.

“We’re asking for our customers’ support as we help with education costs for families of our military and first responders,” said Mike Darula, McDonald’s owner/operator of ten restaurants in the Twin Cities area. “These families go through incredible hardship while sacrificing for our country and communities, but Folds of Honor helps spouses and children reach their dreams through education.”

The statistics are staggering: there are more than 1 million disabled and fallen service members affected by war, and nearly 2 million dependents of military heroes are adversely affected by war. It costs more than $9 billion to provide educational scholarships to the dependents of all fallen and disabled service members.

Lieutenant Colonel Dan Rooney, an Air Force F-16 Fighter Pilot, founded Folds of Honor in 2007. He calls it his life’s calling of “inspiring people to help people, '' and since 2007 Folds of Honor has awarded approximately 44,000 educational scholarships nationwide totaling over $200 million in educational impact. The dollars deliver: Folds of Honor is proud to have a cumulative average ratio of 91% of every dollar raised going to the program, with a four out of four stars rating by Charity Navigator. Minority recipients represent 41% of all scholarships awarded.

Applicants must be enrolled or planning to enroll at an accredited college, university, licensure/technical program for an associate’s or bachelor’s degree, certificate/license, or post- graduate degree or program.

Scholarships are open to any child or spouse whose service member has either fallen or has a combined service-connected disability rating through the VA; the annual application window is February 1-March 31. Scholarships go as high as $5,000 per academic year, based on unmet need. Specific demographic information and online applications can be found at www.foldsofhonor.org/scholarships.

About Folds of Honor

Folds of Honor is a 501(C)(3) nonprofit organization, rated a four-star charity by Charity Navigator and platinum on GuideStar, that provides educational scholarships to the spouses and children of military men and women who have fallen or are disabled as a result of active duty service in the United States armed forces. Our educational scholarships support private school tuition or tutoring for children in grades K – 12, as well as post-secondary tuition assistance for spouses and dependents. For more information, visit https://minnesota.foldsofhonor.org/ and join us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/FoldsOfHonor Instagram https://www.instagram.com/FoldsOfHonor/ and Twitter: https://twitter.com/FoldsofHonor .

About the McDonald’s Minnesota Co-Op

The McDonald’s Minnesota Co-Op consists of 225 independently owned and operated restaurants in Minnesota, western Wisconsin and Ironwood, Michigan. In 2020, the McDonald’s System purchased $183.3 million of products from Minnesota, and McDonald’s suppliers employed 955 people. (Sourcing strategies may change lines of supply over time. Therefore, current purchases from states are not a commitment to purchase beyond the current calendar year. Report includes agricultural purchases for use by McDonald's domestic and international restaurants as reported by McDonald's suppliers). Visit our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/mcdMNWis and on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mcdonaldsmnwesternwi/

Big Mark Clark