McDonald’s Donates $45K to Robotics

L-R: Stephanie Steuri, Robotics Competition emcee; Glenn Waki, McDonald’s Restaurants of Hawai’i owner/operator; Victor Lim, McDonald’s Restaurants of Hawai’i owner/operator; Lenny Klompus, Friends of Hawai’i Robotics president; Shannon Scott, McDonald’s Restaurants of Hawaii marketing consultant; Ed Yamamura, McDonald’s Restaurants of Hawai’i owner/operator; Rafael Zayas, Robotics Competition emcee. Photo courtesy McDonald’s Restaurants of Hawai’i.

Hawai’i robotics teams competing in the 2016 For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) in Hawai’i Robotics Regional Competition received a total of $45,000 in support from McDonald’s Restaurants of Hawai’i.

The funds were part of a fundraiser that ran across the state from March 21 to March 27. Each Egg McMuffin and Egg White Delight sandwich or Extra Value Meal purchased between 5 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. raised $1.

Funds were divided between 26 competing Hawai’i robotics teams. An extra $1,000 will go to five schools, including Kealakehe High School, that are headed to the FIRST World Championship competition in St. Louis, Mo. this month.

“We are honored to continue our support of Hawai’i’s robotics teams,” said Victor Lim, McDonald’s Restaurants of Hawai’i owner/operator. “We are dedicated to helping our communities thrive, so it’s great to be able to lend a hand to help our local schools. To watch the students’ creativity and innovation come to life in these competitions is inspiring. Congratulations to all the schools that competed this year.”

FIRST is a national organization that brings together those interested in STEM to pursue careers in these fields.

“We are so very thankful for the overwhelming generosity of McDonald’s Restaurants of Hawai’i in supporting the FIRST in Hawai’i Robotics Regional Competition,” said Lenny Klompus, president of Friends of Hawai’i Robotics. “This is the fifth consecutive year that McDonald’s has not only brightened our students’ morning with a delicious breakfast sandwich ahead of the competition, but most importantly, they have helped our local robotics teams excel as a result of their ever-growing monetary donation. McDonald’s unwavering impact with this donation enables a generation of young leaders in our state to build innovation today, for tomorrow.”