WOULD YOU LIKE TO ROUND-UP FOR RMHC FAMILIES? The McDonald’s Co-op of Metro St. Louis leads the nation in raising funds through the Round-Up program.
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cross the St. Louis-region, McDonald’s customers are “rounding up” their orders to benefit our local Ronald McDonald Houses and Family Rooms. Launched in 2019, the Round-Up for RMHC program encourages McDonald’s customers to “round” their order total up to the next whole dollar. The money raised provides a “home-away-from-home” for families of seriously ill children receiving medical care at one of the children’s hospitals in the St. Louis region. When the COVID-19 pandemic closed dining rooms, local McDonald’s owner/operators and managers were tasked with making their drivethrus as efficient as possible. One concern they faced was the risk that asking customers to round up could slow down the order process. Never one to shy away from a challenge, owner/ operator (and RMHC St. Louis Board Member) Joan Elhoffer set out to find a solution for her seven stores. “We found out that we needed to reprogram
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Heartbeat • Spring/Summer 2021
the registers in a different fashion so that it would prompt for Round-Up in the drive-thru,” says Joan. “We were able to shave seven seconds off our drive-thru time. It became a win-win.” Other owner/operators saw the opportunity and jumped on board, including RMHC St. Louis board members Nolan Ruiz and Chris Giarla. “Round-Up has been a great way for our customers to support the local St. Louis chapter of RMHC during this challenging time. Our crew and managers have created a great connection with RMHC and the good work they do in the local community,” says Chris. The Round-Up program’s positive force grew exponentially in 2020 as McDonald’s crewmembers began asking customers to donate their ‘change’ to Round-Up for RMHC in the drive-thru. The customers responded in a big way! By July, the co-op publically announced its 2020 goal to raise $1 million for RMHC St. Louis. The region’s leading store was in Troy, Missouri, owned by Joan and managed by Kendra Fraatz.
