McDonald’s Donates Gifts to St. John’s Home for Children in Wheeling

Derek Redd

Of the Christmas wishes for those living at the St. John's Home for Children in Wheeling, executive director Joseph Platt said among the biggest is a greater sense of normalcy for the holidays.

Local McDonald's owners/operators have pitched in to help, providing gifts for the home's residents.

Officials from the St. John's Home came to the headquarters of the Stoltz' Family McDonald's on Wednesday to pick up dozens of gifts for the home's residents, giving them an eventful Christmas morning.

"A lot of times, our kids come from situations where they don't have a Christmas or they don't have a family that can provide them a Christmas," Platt said. "So this gives them a sense of normalcy, being able to have that normal Christmas that everybody gets."

Bob Stoltz, owner/operator of McDonald's restaurants in Wheeling and Moundsville, said his family has been providing gifts for the St. John's Home for the last several years.

During a period of time, those McDonald's restaurants would take a portion of their sales from the McDonald's app and put that toward the donation to the St. John's Home.

Last year, Stoltz said, they raised about $1,000 for the gifts. This year, they raised nearly $1,500.

"We just feel like it's important to be good neighbors," Stoltz said. "And McDonald's is synonymous with kids, so we just feel like this is something we could do to help in the holiday season."

Platt said the gifts they received Wednesday not only show the generosity of the Stoltz family, but the generosity of so many in the Ohio Valley for their donations.

"We just want to thank the community for all they've done," he said. "Without this, our kids wouldn't be able to enjoy Christmas like most kids do."