McDonald’s owner Yolanda Travis presented the parents of slain teenager Hadiya Pendleton with a $1,000 donation Friday, Jan.17, to help benefit the foundation in their daughter’s name. Travis owns two McDonald’s restaurants, one of which is located at 740 E. 47th Street where the event took place. The King College Prep majorettes danced while their band played during the event.
Hadiya’s mother, Cleopatra Cowley-Pendleton, said the donation was a blessing.
“Just the fact that people remember and think of my family is forever humbling,” Cowley-Pendleton said. “Every contribution helps the foundation because we desire to reach out to the at-risk population and inspire them to do better, be different, and learn to appreciate themselves and others as well.”
Fifteen-year-old Hadiya was shot and killed January 29, 2013, while standing with friends inside Vivian Gordon Harsh Park. Two suspects, Kenneth Williams, 20, and Michael Ward, 18, were arrested and indicted with multiple counts of first degree murder, attempted murder, and many other charges. A judge denied bail for both men. They told police Pendleton was not the intended target. They mistook the group she was standing with as rival gang members.
