McDonald’s starts “coffee talk” program

Melissa Strle
Times Reporter

 

Strathmore Mayor Michael Ell was on hand at McDonald’s on Sept. 15 to strike up a conversation with local residents during the first of McDonald’s new series of planned coffee talks with different community members.
McDonald’s restaurant manager Usman Jutt has embarked on an ambitious plan to help bring the community together by bringing important community members to McDonald’s where the public has access to come and chat about any topic.
“With the presence that McDonald’s has in this town and the support that the town has shown us, it’s just imperative for us to be an active member of the community, to create conversations between town officials, police, teachers and principals” said Jutt. “I think the venue is great. It’s a place where everyone in the town dines.”
Ell said he enjoyed talking to the citizens of Strathmore.
“I think it’s a good program to get the citizens involved and engaged in what’s happening in our community,” said Ell.
Jutt said he is very excited about this new program and the coffee talks will also enable town officials to get out of the office and into the community.
“To have people come and enjoy that cup of coffee and create community is something that we’ve always been very passionate about,” said Jutt.
The first McDonald’s coffee talk featuring Ell brought some community members, but attendance was low. Jutt attributed this to a lack of awareness of the event since the event is a new concept in the Town of Strathmore.
He said that in the future, he will look at ways of increasing communication about the event and thinks this will get better as time goes on.
“I think word will spread,” he said.
Ell recognized the importance of engaged members of the community.
“A huge thank you has to go to Usman in regards to his desire to be engaged in our community,” said Ell.
McDonald’s also featured coffee talk with members of the RCMP on Sept. 21, and Jutt plans to invite school principals for another coffee talk. He said this will be a good opportunity for teachers and parents to interact with school administration outside of formal walls.
McDonald’s has been involved in other community events and has partnered with the Wheatland Family & Community Support Services (WFCSS) to help increase charitable efforts. It will also be looking to reach out to other agencies in town.
The company is currently in the midst of finalizing dates for the United for Strathmore event that will take place in November.
“It’s going to be a fundraiser held at McDonald’s and we’re going to stipulate that every dollar that we raise here gets spent in Strathmore,” said Jutt.
Last year the company raised $8,000 from this event and it is hoping to hit the $10,000 mark this year.
McDonald’s also operates a hot lunch program for local schools and is currently providing this service in Langdon as well.