McDonald’s Philippines is not just a fast-food chain. It is also a place that promotes camaraderie and better education for everyone. McDonald’s is all about giving back to the community. One of its initiatives is the Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC), established by George T. Yang, the founder and owner of McDonald’s in the Philippines, in 1995. Since then, RMHC has been supporting the needs of Filipino children for education, shelter, and happiness, helping more than 13.8 million children nationwide.
Photo by McDonald’s PH
On March 30, 2023, RMHC, in partnership with the local city government, opened the fourth Ronald McDonald Bahay Bulilit Learning Center in Brgy. Tibungco, Davao City. The other three Bahay Bulilit Learning Centers are located in Brgy. Buhangin, Brgy. Mintal, and Brgy. Dumoy. Every Bahay Bulilit Learning Center provides childhood education in preparation for formal schooling. Child development workers and community volunteers assigned by the local government are trained to teach these children.
Photo by McDonald’s PH
Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte recognized RMHC’s commitment to driving social impact, sharing that “Over the years, RMHC has been an instrument of change in our communities, implementing significant programs that help in addressing the needs for shelter and education.”
Aside from Bahay Bulilit, RMHC’s flagship programs also include Ronald McDonald Read to Learn and Kindness Kitchen. Read to Learn, a literacy program in partnership with the Department of Education and Adarna House teaches beginning readers in public elementary schools and has close to 11,000 partner schools. RMHC also set up the Kindness Kitchen, a program that began during the pandemic in which McDonald’s stores were opened to prepare and serve meals to those in need. Kindness Kitchen has since served over 800,000 meals and counting to marginalized communities across the Philippines.
Photo by McDonald’s PH
George T. Yang believes that education is essential in nation-building and that providing young children with the means to learn is to open up new opportunities for them. “Government support is important in our goal of uplifting the lives of children through education. Not only do they help us identify the communities that need learning centers, but they also generously donated the land on which RMHC will build the learning center,” said Yang, who also serves as the chairman of RMHC.
As of this writing, McDonald’s has more than 700 stores in key cities across the country. If you want to learn more about McDonald’s Philippines, you can visit their website at www.mcdonalds.com.ph or check out their social media accounts @mcdo_ph on Instagram and @McDo_PH on Twitter. To learn about Ronald McDonald House Charities or RMHC Philippines and how to help, you can visit www.rmhc.org.ph.
McDonald’s Philippines is committed to giving back to the community by providing access to education for Filipino children. With the opening of a new learning center in Davao City, the company continues its advocacy of empowering children through education.
