McDonald’s celebrates Pride Week with €10,000 donation to MGRM
McDonald’s has marked Pride Week in Malta with a €10,000 donation to the Malta LGBTIQ Rights Movement (MGRM) which will go towards its first housing project, Dar Qawsalla.
“Pride Week is a celebration of diversity and, as a company that has always upheld the value of diversity, we are proud to make this contribution to a project that celebrates diversity and supports the community,” Peter Hili, managing director of Premier Restaurants Malta, the operator of McDonald’s, said.
Works on Dar Qawsalla will kick off in the next few months and the house is expected to start welcoming its first guests in 2024.
Hili visited Dar Qawsalla with MGRM co-coordinator Colette Farrugia Bennett to present the donation. Farrugia Bennett said the support from McDonald’s will help to kickstart the refurbishment of the house.
In 2020 MGRM submitted a proposal to the Housing Authority’s Special Housing Programme Fund and was allocated a vacant property in San Gwann from where its Rainbow Support Service will provide serviced accommodation to homeless members of the LGBTIQ+ community.
“MGRM’s proposal was fronted by the Resource and Support Service, whose social workers had become increasingly conscious of the housing difficulties faced by people receiving support. Without its own shelter, MGRM was referring people in need of housing to entities who offer shelter. Now, we are proud to say that we will soon have our first rainbow house,” Farrugia Bennett explained.
Hili outlined how McDonald’s is carrying out considerable work to promote equality and inclusion among its staff. McDonald’s director of HR has been specifically tasked to support diversity, inclusion and equality companywide. Regular training sessions and online workshops are held on measures to ensure a safe and respectful workplace, free from harassment and discrimination.