McDonald's Serves Books With Its Burgers and Fries to Celebrate National Family Literacy Day

    LOS ANGELES, Nov. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Southern California McDonald's
 restaurants joined forces with the National Center for Family Literacy to
 celebrate National Family Literacy Day on Thursday, November 1. The event
 was designed to encourage Southland families to develop strong reading,
 writing and thinking skills.
     More than 12,000 age-appropriate children's books were distributed to
 families, courtesy of Scholastic Books, at select McDonald's restaurants in
 Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties.
 Additionally, McDonald's hosted book readings by Sharon Darling, president
 of the National Center for Family Literacy, local dignitaries including
 California State Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas (D-Los Angeles) and Long Beach,
 Calif., Mayor Bob Foster, and Ronald McDonald.
     McDonald's has chosen to champion the issue of illiteracy because four
 out of five third grade children in California read below grade level,
 nearly two million adults in Los Angeles County lack sufficient reading
 skills, and a recent study concluded that children whose parents are
 functionally illiterate are twice as likely to be functionally illiterate
 themselves.
     "The number of illiterate families in Southern California is
 astonishing," said Scott Frisbie, board member of the McDonald's Operators'
 Association of Southern California and McDonald's owner/operator.
 "McDonald's is committed, for the long haul, to breaking this cycle of
 generational illiteracy by giving our time, facilities and resources to
 provide families with additional learning opportunities."
     National Family Literacy Day is just one component of McDonald's
 commitment to literacy education in Southern California. McDonald's also
 hosts Family Mealtime Literacy Nights, which consists of five, 90-minute
 weekly interactive sessions designed for preschool children and their
 parents. Participants in the program learn and practice important skills
 integral to literacy development, taught by certified trainers from the
 National Center for Family Literacy, in their neighborhood McDonald's
 restaurant. More than 1,200 parents and children have participated since
 the initiative started in 2006.
     "I've been passionate about increasing family literacy skills for more
 than 25 years," said Darling. "I am thrilled that my passion for this issue
 is shared with Southern California McDonald's owner/operators as we work
 together to fight illiteracy in the Southland."
     For more information on Southern California McDonald's commitment to
 literacy, visit http://www.mcdonaldssocal.com.
     McDonald's Operators' Association of Southern California is comprised
 of more than 600 franchised and company-owned restaurants in the counties
 of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura.
     The National Center for Family Literacy, founded in 1989, is the
 worldwide leader in family literacy. More than 1 million families have made
 positive educational and economic gains as a result of the National Center
 for Family Literacy's work, which includes training more than 150,000
 teachers and thousands of volunteers.
      Media Contacts:  Eniko Bolivar/Marissa Medina
                       Porter Novelli (310) 444-7000
                       ebolivar@porternovelli.com
 
 

SOURCE McDonald's