SONIC® Gives Control of $500,000 in Donations to Voters

OKLAHOMA CITY -- SONIC Drive-In is re-enrolling its commitment to education with the official launch of the 2012 Limeades for Learning campaign. The 2012 edition of the cause branding initiative in partnership with DonorsChoose.org begins Monday and allows the public to vote online at LimeadesforLearning.com for their favorite public school classroom projects and direct more than half a million dollars in SONIC donations to local schools. SONIC has donated more than $2 million to public school classrooms through the program since 2009. "The rush and excitement that comes with the start of a new school year can quickly change if teachers aren't equipped with the resources to inspire their students to learn," said James O'Reilly, chief marketing officer for SONIC. "For that reason, SONIC's commitment through Limeades for Learning is a true partnership with our communities and lets our customers and the public direct our dollars to the public school classroom projects that mean the most to them." The classroom projects with the most votes each week in the five-week campaign are fully funded by SONIC. Anyone with a valid email address can vote online once per day at LimeadesforLearning.com from September 24 through October 29, with every 10 votes unlocking two bonus votes awarded via email. In addition, customers can visit their local drive-ins and with receive two extra votes via special bag stickers with any SONIC purchase. Two special incentives are in place to motivate voters to vote daily and campaign for their favorite projects. If four million votes are cast by October 29, SONIC will unlock an additional $100,000 to fund more classroom projects. The four million vote mark also earns all voters a coupon for a free medium Cherry Limeade. The number of SONIC teacher projects – ranging in subjects from literature to science to art supplies – was nearly 6,000 as ofSeptember 24. That number is hardly surprising following the results of a recent study by the National School Supply and Equipment Association. According to the study, public school teachers spent an estimated $3.5 billion on educational products during the 2009-10 school year. Teachers' personal money is the most common source of money for classroom educational products according to the report. Visit LimeadesforLearning.com for more information on Limeades for Learning and how teachers, students and the public can get involved to support public education.