Last May, McDonald’s launched its new Cheeseburger Campaign to raise P1 million pesos for the benefit of the Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC), the charity of choice of McDonald’s, and its banner program Bright Minds Read (BMR). Taking part in this campaign was easy- for every McDonald’s Cheeseburger purchased, P1 was automatically donated to RMHC and as a symbol of one’s participation, a Cheeseburger Commitment sticker was given to post inside the stores.

According to Ms. Margot Torres, McDonald’s Vice President for Marketing, “more than just serving a great Cheeseburger made from 100% pure beef and real American cheese, McDonald’s wanted to create an avenue for customers to get involved in a fun and delicious way. Who would have ever thought that your McDonald’s Cheeseburger could also make a real difference?”

One million units of McDonald’s Cheeseburger and one million Cheeseburger Commitment stickers later, McDonald’s is proud to announce that through the overwhelming support given to the campaign, P1 million has been turned over to RMHC. Through this donation to RMHC, 100 public elementary schools and thousands of Grade 1 students will now be equipped with a BMR toolkit that teaches beginning reading, better language skills, develop comprehension and improve critical thinking.

BMR is an 8 year program in partnership with the Department of Education (DepEd) that aims to teach beginning reading to public elementary school students by providing a toolkit comprised of 33 storybooks, student worksheets and a teacher’s manual. Since the program started in 2002, BMR has recorded a significant contribution in the decreased number of non-readers in the country. Based on the 2002 Philippine Informal Reading Inventory (PHIL-IRI), 40% are non-readers after Grade 1 while in 2009, PHIL-IRI Pre-Test and Post-Test results indicated that only 1.67% of the total NCR elementary population are non-readers.

According to Dr. Flordeliza R. Magday, Director III, Officer-in-Charge, Office of the Regional Director, DepEd: “On behalf of the Department of Education and the thousands of students you have helped, I would like to thank McDonald’s and RMHC for their continuous support and commitment to helping more children learn how to read; the results speak for themselves and we hope that we replicate the same success in more parts of the country.”