PETALING JAYA, Oct 21 — McDonald’s Malaysia and its non-profit arm, the Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) Malaysia has launched the Back-to-School 2019 programme to assist primary schoolchildren from families with financial hardships nationwide.
Marking its return for a third year, 30,000 primary schoolchildren will receive Back-to-School packs to motivate and encourage them to study hard in school.
Using its Scale for Good strategy to create a positive impact on communities, societies and the planet, McDonald’s has raised a record-breaking RM3 million this year.
The programme aims to ease the financial burdens of low-income and urban poor families for the upcoming school year.
Each Back-to-School pack is worth RM100 and includes a school uniform, a pair of shoes and a school bag.
McDonald’s Malaysia managing director and local operating partner Azmir Jaafar said education requires uncompromised attention.
“These children are the future of our nation, and we strongly believe that each of them deserves to be given the right opportunities to succeed.
“We understand that the cost of school expenses can be quite daunting for parents and guardians at the start of each school year.
“So we hope that this contribution, in its own way will provide relief to alleviate any financial concern for families,” Azmir said in a statement.
Last year, RM1.7 million worth of Back-to-School packs were delivered to 17,000 students while in 2017, McDonalds’s and RHMC reached out to 6,000 students after raising RM1.2 million.
McDonald’s Malaysia said its corporate social responsibility initiative was in line with the Ministry of Education’s nine core milestones such as providing undivided attention to B40 group students and placing students at the core of every initiative.
The Back-to-School programme this year is in collaboration with the education ministry.
Partners who teamed up with McDonalds’s Malaysia for the programme include Kerry Ingredients Sdn Bhd, Visa Worldwide Pte. Limited, Honda Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Kumpulan Hartanah Selangor Bhd, Aladdin Pacific (M) Sdn Bhd, Glades Guppy Packaging Malaysia Sdn Bhd, and Huhtamaki Foodservice Malaysia Sdn Bhd.
Azmir said with assistance from the programme, parents would have the option of spending on other necessities.
“Helping the underprivileged community is a core value of McDonald’s Malaysia, and we are delighted with the generous donations from our business partners, franchisees, employees and customers.
“The positive feedback from teachers and parents of past recipients of the programme is the one factor that truly drives us to do our best and help more children this year,” added Azmir, who is also the RMHC Malaysia president.
The launch on Friday at Sekolah Kebangsaan Klang Gate was attended by Deputy Education Minister Teo Nie Ching who distributed the Back-to-School packs during the event.
She said the ministry was very pleased with the initiative and added that it was in line with its commitment to provide quality education to all students, which includes school supplies.
“Indeed, poverty and financial hardship are among the issues that lead to student dropouts in primary and secondary schools.
“The implementation of the Back-to-School programme by a private entity such as McDonald’s Malaysia is not only an added value but is also an example of a public-private partnership which the Ministry encourages for the benefit of the community.
“It is also my hope that the programme will boost the confidence of these children to go to school,” added Teo.
As part of McDonald’s Malaysia’s Community Programme to support the underprivileged, the Back-to-School packs will be handed out to other states until the end of the year.
Established in 1990, RMHC’S mission is to help underprivileged children in Malaysia.
