Local McDonald’s® owner/operators to donate 25¢ from
every Shamrock Shake®& Oreo Shamrock McFlurry® purchase March 7-17 to Ronald McDonald Houses® in Minnesota
Event has raised more than $690,000 since 2014
[MINNEAPOLIS, MN] – [March 7, 2022] Owner/operators of 225 participating McDonald’s Minnesota Co-Op restaurants will donate 25 cents from every Shamrock Shake sold to Ronald McDonald House Charities-Upper Midwest(RMHC-UM) and the Ronald McDonald House in Rochester. The two organizations combined consist of four Ronald McDonald Houses and two Ronald McDonald Family Rooms in Minnesota.
The fundraiser begins on Monday, March 7 and runs through Thursday, March 17 (St. Patrick’s Day) at participating restaurants in Minnesota, western Wisconsin, and Ironwood, Michigan.
Ronald McDonald House Charities provide a warm, welcoming home-away-from-home and services that keep families together in a loving, sympathetic community when it matters most – offering support to families seeking medical care for their children.
“Help us help families by purchasing a Shamrock Shake during this 12-day initiative,” Minnesota McDonald’s Co- Op President Melissa Kennedy said. “We’re proud to support the Ronald McDonald Houses in Minnesota where families stay together during the most difficult times of their lives and we appreciate our customers’ support for this wonderful cause.”
This is the ninth straight year that McDonald’s owner/operators in Minnesota and Western Wisconsin have had a Shamrock Shake fundraiser to benefit Ronald McDonald Houses in Minnesota. In the eight previous fundraisers, thanks to the generosity of their customers, McDonald’s and its owner/operators in Minnesota and Western Wisconsin have raised more than $690,000.
Minnesota opened the doors to its first Ronald McDonald House in October 1979, just off the University of Minnesota’s Twin Cities campus on Oak Street in Minneapolis and has provided a home-away-from-home for thousands of families whose children have faced medical challenges.
RMHC-UM has two Ronald McDonald Houses in the Twin Cities; the other is inside Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis, and the organization also runs RMH-Northland, the state’s newest House, which opened in Duluth inside Essentia Health-St. Mary’s Medical Center in February, 2021.
The House on Oak St. has rooms for 48 families per night; the one inside Children’s can host 15 families. There are also two Ronald McDonald Family Rooms in St. Paul (one at Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare and the other at Children’s), which provide relaxing, inviting spaces for families just steps from where their child is being treated.
The Ronald McDonald House of Rochester became a licensed Ronald McDonald House in 1990 and is Minnesota’s largest; it expanded to 70 rooms in 2019 and is just a few minutes from the Mayo Clinic.
The Shamrock Shake fundraiser is one of the initiatives that the McDonald’s Minnesota Co-Op leads to support Ronald McDonald House Charities. Others include Round Up, offering customers the chance to round up their order to the nearest dollar; the restaurant canister program, where customers who elect to donate their change can place it in canisters at the counter and drive-thru. Owner/operators also encourage pop tab recycling to be brought to local restaurants. Customers can make donations at in-restaurant kiosks as well as ordering on the McDonald’s Mobile App.
About Ronald McDonald House Charities, Upper Midwest
Ronald McDonald House Charities, Upper Midwest is a non-profit 501 (c) 3 organization whose mission is to provide a comfortable and caring home away from home that supports keeping families together and reduces stress during a child’s serious illness. Based in Minneapolis, the organization operates five locations in the Twins Cities and served more than 7,000 families last year. Additional information can be found at www.rmhtwincities.org.
About The Ronald McDonald House of Rochester
The Ronald McDonald House® of Rochester, Minnesota has 70 rooms with a maximum occupancy of five. All of the rooms are slightly different and are meant to accommodate the varying needs of families. In 2019, 425 families from across the United States and the world stayed at the Ronald McDonald House® of Rochester, Minnesota, while hundreds more received other support and services from the House. The Ronald McDonald House of Rochester, Minnesota, is the largest Ronald McDonald House in the state of Minnesota, the 13th largest in the United States, and the 18th largest in the world (based on number of guest rooms). The Ronald McDonald House of Rochester is a 501c3 non-profit organization. Governed by a volunteer board of trustees, the House hosts 42 families each night and has been in operation since 1980. Additional information can be found at www.rmhmn.org.
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.