Local McDonald’s restaurants will help Ronald McDonald House Charities in Omaha (RMHC) again this holiday season through the “Giving Tree” program. Community members may purchase and donate needed household items listed on miniature trees on display at McDonald’s restaurants.
The Giving Trees, to be located in all McDonald’s in Central and Eastern Nebraska, as well as Western Iowa, will be decorated with approximately 50 ornaments offering a suggested item to donate. Ronald McDonald House carefully considers and lists items currently needed including new and unused household supplies, pantry items, and other donated products for its residents. Examples include, but are not limited to: bleach, latex-free gloves, non-perishable breakfast items, and hand sanitizer.
The program introduced in 2011 by Erin Barr, a McDonald’s owner-operator in southeast Nebraska, the Giving Tree program was started to engage the customers of McDonald’s in Nebraska and Iowa to provide specific needs of the Ronald McDonald House. Giving Trees have generated $18,000 in donations from all local McDonald’s restaurants.
The Giving Trees will be on display the day after Thanksgiving through the week before Christmas. All donations will be delivered to RMHC before the end of the year. For more information, please visit www.rmhcomaha.org.