What do the senior adults sharing lunch at the Hannibal Nutrition Center have in common with the youth involved in the summer Kids In Motion program?
Both are benefitting from the sale of McCare Bucks booklets, with the senior citizens buying them to save money when they eat at McDonald’s restaurant and the KIM youth receiving funds to help finance their program.
The $5 booklets have five coupons, each paying for one item at McDonald’s that costs more than $1, including a Big Mac.
“We do lot of things with the high school,” said Bob Gilstrap, owner of the Hannibal McDonald’s. He said the McCare Bucks program was offered after he was looking for an ongoing source of fund-raising for the KIM program.
“I’m glad it helps them,” Gilstrap added. “Anything we can do, we are happy to do. This is one of the ways we give back to the community.”
Noting that people using McCare Bucks save more than 50 percent on the menu items, he said he is glad to help the customers, too, such as senior adults who enjoy gathering at McDonald’s. “A lot of those folks are my regular customers. The deal is too good for them to pass up, and they are helping kids.”
The McCare Bucks have a lot of choices, he said, and “we change the offers once in awhile.”
One of the most faithful McCare Bucks buyers is Geri Riney, who not only eats lunch at the nutrition center every weekday but also volunteers there. She both buys and sells them.
Riney explained that when her sister, former Hannibal resident Ilene Parks, visits from Jefferson City, they eat at the nutrition center during the week and at McDonald’s on weekends.
Using McCare Bucks “is a great savings at McDonald’s,” Riney said. “We enjoy them very much and are really glad to have them. And it does help the Kids In Motion.”
The current offer is a choice of two booklets, she explained. One includes breakfast items along with other choices, and one has various menu items without breakfasts.
Riney enjoys helping spread the word about McCare Bucks, because “I pass the message along to other people and save money at the same time.”
McCare Bucks sales
raise thousands
“We started selling them at a McKIM Night in 2007 and have been selling them ever since then,” said Amy Vaughn, director of the KIM program with Douglass Community Services. “We have literally raised thousands of dollars for the Kids In Motion summer program. It’s been a very successful fund-raiser.”
Buying the booklet offers the buyer “a tremendous savings,” Vaughn added. “I really feel like it’s such a good partnership with the nutrition center. For a lot of senior citizens, McDonald’s is their social outlet. It’s a neat partnership between McDonald’s and the nutrition center and Kids In Motion.”
In addition to the nutrition center, McCare Bucks are available at Douglass Community Services and at city hall, she said. For more information, call DCS at (573) 221-3892.
“Parks and Rec has been very helpful in selling the books for us,” Vaughn said. “They have them available at their office (in city hall), and a lot of city employees purchase them. It is ongoing - that is a neat thing about the project.”
This year the KIM program was expanded to include Bowling Green and Louisiana, Vaughn explained, and the McCare Bucks are also being sold in Bowling Green. To buy them there, contact Cindy Norton, the middle school guidance counselor. Louisiana does not have a McDonald’s, so they are not sold there.
Vaughn noted that the average cost per child in the KIM summer program is $500, and the proceeds from fund-raisers “allow them to participate in the program.” This year 75 youth were in the KIM program in Hannibal, plus 10 more in Bowing Green and 10 in Louisiana.
“In all three communities, we work hand in hand with many community organizations, nursing homes, city governments and businesses,” she said. “It is totally a collaborative effort. I feel like the saying ‘It takes a village to raise a child’ really is true. I appreciate everyone who partners with us. Kids In Motion is truly a community effort.”
