Ronald McDonald House Charities raises lots of money thanks to Free Fry Day!

The cars were lined up throughout the Portage Mall's parking lot on July 6th, dropping off donations and picking up their haul of free fries, hashbrowns, and ketchup!

Free Fry Day is an annual event put on by McCain Foods and Homestead Co-op. For the past three years, they've been raising funds for the Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC). Once all the donations were tallied for Portage, $10,000 will be going to the organization this year. (At the time of this writing, Carberry numbers had yet to come in, as they held their own event.)

Leah Gravatt, plant administrator for McCain Foods, says RMHC needs all the funding it can get, so it was great to see the number of cars lined up.

"It was a steady stream of cars all day," notes Gravatt. "It was great to see everybody turn out for this event."

She adds that it's vital for McCain Foods to be involved in fundraisers like this to both help RMHC and help out the community. She stresses that nobody was required to leave a donation to get the food, and they were happy to give out as much as possible.

"This is my first event here in Portage and to see the cars lined up, you know, before we even opened at 10 a.m., it's amazing to see the community come out," says Krista Lewis, family room and volunteer manager for RMHC Manitoba. "Support is more important than ever. We have recently opened a brand new 40-bedroom house in Winnipeg."

RMHC provides a home-away-from-home for families with sick or injured children while providing essential services they'll need while staying close to medical care. The funding will go toward their two core programs in Manitoba, that being the new 40-bedroom house at 62 Juno Street in Winnipeg, and the family room in the Children's Hospital.

Chris Theoret, business-to-consumer operations manager with Homestead Co-op says they try to partake in as many events as possible, as it's their vision to enhance community life throughout the community they live in.

"Ronald McDonald House Charities is a program that helps everybody," notes Theoret. "It's not specific to one community. It's for all Manitobans who, unfortunately, need these services in order to get through the situation they're facing."

McCain Foods, Homestead Co-op, and RMHC want to thank everyone who was able to donate and hope everyone enjoys the free food.