New Jersey Girl Scouts Earn Cooking Badge Thanks to Local McDonald's Owner

ISELIN, N.J., Sept. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Local McDonald's owner and good neighbor, Jessica Quintana, helped scouts from the Girl Scouts Heart of New Jersey earn the Simple Meals cooking badge on September 14 at her Newark restaurant. The event allowed leaders the opportunity to help their scouts develop valuable cooking skills such as assembling quick, yet balanced meals for any time of the day. Simple Meals is a legacy badge for Girl Scout Juniors (ages 9-11). The purpose of the badge is to learn how to create a meal for family and friends.

The group of about 20 scouts arrived with their parents and scout leaders at the restaurant where they were greeted by the McDonald's owner, crew members and Ronald McDonald. After a tour of the kitchen, the scouts were divided into groups and assigned to a station where they completed a series of steps that consisted of assembling various McDonald's menu items such as the Fruit & Maple Oatmeal, Crispy Chicken Snackwrap, Fruit N' Yogurt Parfait and a Side Salad with Chicken. After the scouts stopped by all stations, a ceremony was held where they each received their Simple Meals cooking badge.

"We admire the Girls Scouts for their dedication to teaching girls about leadership, adventure and success as they grow up to someday make the world a better place. We were honored to host such an impressive group of scouts and are thankful to the Girl Scouts Heart of New Jersey for allowing us to be a part of this joyous event," said Jessica Quintana, McDonald's Owner/Operator. "Our aim is to continue working with the organization to ensure we reach more girl scouts across New Jersey and the Tri-State area."

"The Simple Meals Cooking badge is a popular and fun badge for the scouts to earn. We are grateful to McDonald's for opening their doors and ensuring that our girls have a blast while learning to make some of their favorite menu items," said Barbara Wilson, Community Partner Specialist for The Girl Scouts Heart of New Jersey. "All the girl scouts completed the exercise knowing how to prepare healthful meals for themselves and loved ones."

Over the past several years, McDonald's has made significant food quality changes, such as removing artificial preservatives from McNuggets, committing to cage-free eggs by 2025 in the U.S. and Canada, and only serving chicken made from chickens not treated with antibiotics important to human medicine. In May of this year, McDonald's announced that its soft serve is no longer contains any artificial colors, flavors or preservatives.

McDonald's and the Girls Scouts Heart of New Jersey will work together and coordinate additional events throughout New Jersey. The goal is to help 300 scouts earn badges in different cooking categories by the end of the year.

About McDonald's New York Tri-State Restaurants
McDonald's is one of the world's best-known brands and is a global leader in food service. There are nearly 600 McDonald's restaurants, owned by 100 franchisees, located throughout the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut Tri-State area. Visit www.McDonaldsNYTriState.com or follow us on Twitter @McDNYTriState for more information about other McDonald's area programs.

About McDonald's
McDonald's USA, LLC, serves a variety of menu options made with quality ingredients to approximately 25 million customers every day. Nearly 90 percent of McDonald's 14,000 U.S. restaurants are independently owned and operated by businessmen and women. Customers can now log online for free at approximately 11,500 participating Wi-Fi enabled McDonald's U.S. restaurants. For more information, visit www.mcdonalds.com, or follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

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SOURCE McDonald's New York Tri-State Restaurants