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By DIANE GASPER-O'BRIEN
Hays Daily News
Parents go out of their way to make sacrifices for their children on a daily basis -- even if it might mean not meeting your weight loss goal for the week.
Anthony Shorb threw caution to the wind Thursday night and ordered two hamburgers and an order of French fries from McDonald's instead of settling for a salad.
"But I am drinking diet pop," he said with a grin, holding up his drinking glass.
Family and friends of Lincoln Elementary School students flocked to the two McDonald's restaurants in Hays on McTeacher Night to help Lincoln raise money for a new piece of playground equipment.
Under the McTeacher Night program, a portion of the receipts during a two-hour period on a given night goes to a designated school.
To help with a potential large turnout of customers, and to get school personnel involved with the project, administrators, teachers, staff and even some of their spouses -- as well as parents -- helped work the two one-hour shifts at both restaurants.
The Shorbs wanted to be part of the action. Their son, 7-year-old Seth, is a first-grader at Lincoln, where his 4-year-old sister, Morgan, will join him in a couple years.
So Anthony Shorb -- who joined Pound Plunge, a local weight loss program, earlier this month -- decided to splurge and eat out with his family.
Thursdays happen to be Shorb's weigh-in night for Pound Plunge, so the Shorbs got to McDonald's near the end of the promotion. Dad didn't get off work until 6 p.m., and he decided to weigh in before going out to eat.
"I could have had a salad," Shorb said. "But I didn't. This is my one (higher calorie) meal for this week."
Kara Shorb said the family has been trying to eat dinner at home to help her husband stick to his diet. But thanks to their eating out, and many more like them Thursday, Lincoln earned nearly $950 to go toward its rock climbing piece of equipment.
"Wow, we're getting closer," Lincoln Principal Elaine Rohleder said of the project the school has been working on for three years.
The cost of the playground equipment, plus ground cover, is about $11,000. Before Thursday, Lincoln was up to about $8,000.
Adding another thousand to that in one night was a huge step toward meeting the goal.
Besides, it was a lot of fun, Rohleder said.
"We've had a great time," she said.
Rohleder, in her 15th year at Lincoln, always has been one to roll up her sleeves and help out around the school.
And Thursday was no different.
She filled fry orders, took orders at the counter and collected money.
Rohleder came up with the idea for the teacher work night while working on the McDonald's Neighbors program, where schools collect McDonald's receipts that are each worth a point, then order supplies out of a catalog for so many points each.
Both the Neighbors and McTeacher programs are part of the numerous programs where McDonald's helps schools raise money to help offset costs of supplies and equipment.
"It's a way to give back to the community. That's what Ray Kroc was about, and Rick and Gail have always been strong supporters of the community, too," said Deana Rupp, director of marketing for McDonald's.
She was referring to Kroc, the founder of the McDonald's Corp., and Rick and Gail Kuehl, who own McDonald's restaurants in Russell, WaKeeney and Colby as well as the two Hays stores.
The Lincoln representatives could choose in what section they wanted to work Thursday, and each was mentored by a McDonald's employee.
Except in the play area, where Elouise Miller was able to handle the children all by herself.
After all, she's had plenty of experience with youngsters.
Miller is in her 52nd year of teaching kindergarten or first grade at Lincoln. So her students will be able to enjoy the rock climber for several years.
Depending on the outcome of a grant for which Lincoln applied, the equipment could be purchased by next fall and maybe even as early as this spring.
"I had absolutely no idea how much we could earn (at McDonald's)," Rohleder said. "I just thought it sounded like fun, and I thought we could maybe get about $300. It was a great night for Lincoln."
Reporter Diane Gasper-O'Brien can be reached at (785) 628-1081, Ext. 126, or by e-mail at
dobrien@dailynews.net.
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