Teacher appreciation is celebrated nationally throughout the month of May, and SONIC Drive-In contributed to the celebration through a recent fundraiser. Founded back in 1953, SONIC is now the largest drive-in restaurant in America. 3,500 restaurants are spread across 47 states. This year, the SONIC Foundation donated a total of $1.5 million across the country to support educators and their students. In partnership with a nonprofit called DonorsChoose, SONIC raised money and matched public donations that were given directly to teachers to spend on improving their classrooms.
One of SONIC’s current initiatives is called Limeades for Learning, which matches 50% of each donation made to the company. Also under Limeades for Learning, a portion of the proceeds made from each drink sold is granted to support public education.
“We’re grateful to all the SONIC guests who joined us in celebrating teachers this month by donating to a classroom request on DonorsChoose, and those who continue to help us support public education by grabbing their favorite SONIC drink and having a portion of the purchase go towards helping a nearby public school,” Lori Abou Habib, Chief Marketing Officer of SONIC expressed in an interview. Five exemplary teachers from Gorham received funding from this year’s SONIC project, amounting to a combined total of $245.00. These were a few out of nearly 15,300 educators included in the endeavor.
Limeades for Learning is going on 15 years of improving local education and helping with projects like the five in Gorham.
At Great Falls, 4th grade teacher Mrs. Sedenka, requested new books for her library under the “Time to Freshen Up Our Library!” project. She was recently asked to answer a couple questions involving it. When asked how the fundraiser worked, she explained, “DonorsChoose allows people to put together ‘wish lists’ of things they need, then basically crowd-source for funding…
“For Teacher Appreciation this year,” Mrs Sedenka continued, “Sonic matched teacher created projects. Once a project has been fully funded, DonorsChoose sends the money, or items, directly to the teacher.” Sedenka went on to describe her own wish list, which was full of books that her students wanted to add to the library in her classroom.
DonorsChoose and SONIC work tirelessly all year long, not just during the month of May. Since 2009, the SONIC Foundation has raised over $26 million for education support. Additionally, Sedenka noted that she uses the DonorsChoose company to fund books during other times of the year as well.
The other four projects funded in Gorham were: Mrs. Mason, “Let,Äôs Build!” for Grades PreK-2; Ms. Durant-Harthorne, “Let the Light Shine Through!” for Grades PreK-2; Mrs. McAllister, “Help us Bloom with STEM Materials!” for Grades PreK-2; Mrs. Sanford, “Tactile Finds Active Minds” for Grades PreK-2.