We had the opportunity to interview John Russett, President of Folds of Honor in Minnesota. Russett wants to spread awareness about Folds of Honor’s team up with local McDonald’s, including the Wadena location, where sales will go towards scholarships and other aid to disabled veterans and their families. You can hear that interview below.
More information on Folds of Honor and their campaign is below.
Owner and operators of 225 McDonald’s Minnesota Co-Op restaurants in Minnesota, western Wisconsin, and Ironwood, Michigan are partnering for the first time with Folds of Honor, a leading national nonprofit organization that provides educational scholarships for children and spouses of fallen or disabled American military service members and first responders.
From now until Friday, November 11 (Veterans Day), owners and operators of participating McDonald’s restaurants will donate a portion of sales to Folds of Honor up to $100,000.
“We’re asking for our customers’ support as we help with education costs for families of our military and first responders,” said Mike Darula, McDonald’s owner/operator of ten restaurants in the Twin Cities area. “These families go through incredible hardship while sacrificing for our country and communities, but Folds of Honor helps spouses and children reach their dreams through education.”
There are more than 1 million disabled and fallen service members affected by war, and nearly 2 million dependents of military heroes are adversely affected by war. It costs more than $9 billion to provide educational scholarships to the dependents of all fallen and disabled service members.
“We’re grateful to the local McDonald’s owner/operators who understand the importance of an education and want to do something about it,” said Lt Col Dan Rooney, founder and CEO of Folds of Honor. “The generosity of these individuals and their customers will truly make a positive difference in so many lives.”
Lieutenant Colonel Rooney, a former Air Force F-16 fighter pilot, founded Folds of Honor in 2007. Since then, Folds has awarded approximately 44,000 educational scholarships nationwide totaling about $200 million in educational impact. In 2022, first responders’ dependents were added to the mission. The dollars deliver: Folds of Honor is proud to have a cumulative average ratio of 91% of every dollar raised going to the program, with a four out of four stars rating by Charity Navigator. Minority recipients represent 41% of all scholarships awarded.
Information and online applications for Folds of Honor academic scholarships can be found at www.foldsofhonor.org/scholarships. The annual application window is February 1-March 31. Scholarships go as high as $5,000 per academic year, based on unmet need.