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Hello everyone,
Over the past few weeks Canadians have embraced change like never before, as we have all adapted in the face of this extraordinary health crisis. At McDonald’s, that’s meant closing our dining rooms and stopping takeout service to protect the safety of our guests and employees. Now we’re adapting to be the best Drive-thru and Delivery restaurant we can possibly be – to provide Canadians with a trusted source of quick and affordable meals at a time when so many other options are unavailable.
Evolving how we operate
We are following the advice of health authorities closely and continue to adapt our procedures to provide the safest environment possible for all the employees working so hard to serve you in the restaurants. As the situation has evolved, we have further emphasized our strict hand-washing and cleaning procedures and provided additional guidelines for health and wellness screening for employees. We have implemented new contact-free service procedures and are quickly installing new plexiglass screens at our Drive-thru windows so that employees and guests can both feel more secure. We’ve also developed new guidelines, so employees can respect social distancing while they work.
I want to take this moment to express my heartfelt thanks to our franchisees and their employees across the country who are working so hard to continue serving Canadians at this time.
Supporting families and Ronald McDonald House Charities
Along with many Canadians, I always look forward to McHappy Day, our annual celebration and fundraiser in support of Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) and other children’s charities across the country. It’s a wonderful moment when we get together with everyone in our communities to support families in very challenging circumstances. That’s not possible right now, so we will be postponing McHappy Day from May 6th until we find the right time to come together.
This isn’t a decision we’ve made lightly. Funds from McHappy Day contribute to Ronald McDonald Houses providing a home away from home for families with sick children being treated at a nearby hospital. And as you can imagine, these houses are also working hard to navigate this crisis. They have new health and safety protocols in place to continue supporting the families who are staying with them, but unfortunately, they’re not able to accept new families at this time. Still they are continuing to find new ways to support their hospital partners and communities. In fact, some Ronald McDonald Family Rooms inside hospitals have been repurposed to serve frontline healthcare workers, and in Calgary, the Ronald McDonald Care Mobile is now a mobile maternity clinic to serve the community.
Our franchisees continue to support the Ronald McDonald Houses in their communities wherever they can, like dropping off hot meals for the families. And as a company, we will continue doing everything we can to support RMHC. Food Donations are just one source of that ongoing support. As we’ve reduced our services and closed restaurants, we've worked with our distribution centres and suppliers to donate any excess food in our supply chain. We don’t want anything to go to waste, and I’m pleased to report that so far we’ve donated over 155,000 pounds of food to local food banks and other charities – and are extending that support to RMHC as well.
If anyone has the means to help at this difficult time, please consider donating to this important cause by visiting rmhc.ca.
We are in this together
We are working together with partners in communities from coast to coast to meet urgent needs as they arise.
That’s why we worked quickly to offer Curbside Pick-Up through the MyMcDs app to all the tireless truck-drivers, paramedics and other essential workers whose vehicles don’t fit through our Drive-thrus. We’ve also been offering a free coffee or tea for healthcare and emergency workers, so they can refuel on their way to work – on us. In partnership with our franchisees, it’s a small way for us to say thank you to these essential workers providing vital support for all of us.
Our franchisees and their employees are doing amazing things large and small on a daily basis and I salute them for their leadership and compassion. I’ve said it before and will say it here again: We are in this together. That is our commitment to you from McDonald’s Canada as we work through this with our franchisees, employees and guests.
Stay safe everyone. Thank you for making us part of your day, and we look forward to serving you soon.
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John E. Betts,
President and CEO
McDonald’s Restaurants of Canada
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