DAVAO, PHILIPPINES — George Yang, the founder and owner of McDonald’s in the country, has always valued education. He believes that it is something that not only benefits the learner, but their family, community, and the country as well.
This is why when he established the Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Philippines (RMHC) in 1995, he made education as one of his main advocacies. Since then, RMHC has been improving the lives of Filipino children through its mandate of supporting their need for education, shelter, and happiness, helping more than 13.8 million children nationwide.
“Education is essential in nation-building. To provide young children with the means to learn is to open up new opportunities. Education will enable them to be productive citizens and help more people in the future. We are thankful to the local government and the people of Davao City for being a committed partner in advocating education,” said George, who also serves as the chairman of RMHC.
RHMC, in partnership with the local city government, opened the fourth Ronald McDonald Bahay Bulilit Learning Center in Brgy. Tibungco last March 30. There are three other Bahay Bulilit Learning Centers in the city located in Brgy. Buhangin, Brgy. Mintal, and Brgy. Dumoy.
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.”
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.
“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,” George said.
RMHC has built 37 Bahay Bulilit Learning Centers in various areas all over the country. 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.
In bringing McDonald’s to the Philippines in 1981, George simultaneously began the practice of giving back to the community, from providing regular employment to its crew members, coming up with menu items that Filipinos will love and afford and, through RMHC, giving Filipino children more access to education. Beyond the food and service it provides to its customers, McDonald’s Philippines embraces the role it has in driving positive impact and is committed to always being a step better for its people, community, and the planet.
Currently, McDonald’s has more than 700 stores in key cities across the country.
“The true success of McDonald’s in the Philippines is found not just in the hundreds of stores we have all over the country. It is also found in making a difference in the lives of our crew, managers, and the communities we serve,” George said.
