McTeacher's Night raises $1500 for grants to Sand Springs teachers

When the COVID-19 pandemic reached Oklahoma, it resulted in the cancelation of the biggest fundraiser of the year for the Sand Springs Education Foundation. When the Sand Springs McDonald’s found out, they stepped up to help out.

McDonald’s held a fundraiser Saturday, October 3rd from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. and pledged to donate 20% of all sales to the foundation’s Grants for Teachers program. But they also committed to donating a minimum of $1,500, regardless of turnout.

“I think everyone in the community understands how supporting (the SSEF) are for teacher grants,” said District Superintendent Sherry Durkee. “They work really hard to scour the community in terms of fundraising to make sure they’re very supportive. What happens now is they will form a grant committee and teachers are submitting those (applications) right now and then before Thanksgiving they’ll be visiting site by site to give those grants away for innovative ideas for the classroom.”

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic impacted the event in many ways. In a normal year, district teachers take over behind the counter to serve up food and give the kids some familiar faces to look for. This year there was no indoor dinning available, only carry-out and drive-through. District personnel were on hand to greet customers in the drive-through, however. The event was also moved to the morning time.

McDonald’s stepped up and not only made a big donation to the foundation, but they also held a laptop giveaway for registered customers. Kelly Durborow was selected as the winner of the Lenovo computer. Event organizers expect to make the event an annual occurrence in Sand Springs.