SONIC® Renews $500,000 Commitment to Public Schools

Limeades for Learning® funds grants for U.S. Public School Teachers for Second Year

News provided by

Aug 30, 2010, 06:00 ET

OKLAHOMA CITY, Aug. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Today marks the second year of SONIC Drive-In's commitment to Limeades for Learning, a cause branding initiative that empowers consumers to direct more than $500,000 in grants to public school teachers nationwide. Thanks to SONIC's renewed partnership with DonorsChoose.org, consumers can once again play an important role in funding classroom projects that inspire learning.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100830/CG56396LOGO)

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20100830/CG56396LOGO)

Engaging with Limeades for Learning is easier this year. Anyone with a valid e-mail address can take part by voting every day for a teacher's project online at LimeadesForLearning.com. Another new addition is once 1 million votes or more are cast for SONIC Teacher projects by Sept. 30, SONIC will unlock an additional $100,000 donation. That means an extra week of voting Oct. 1 – 7. Teacher projects range from books and listening centers to microscopes and museum field trips. The projects with the most votes each week are awarded grants throughout the month of September.

In the first year of the program, SONIC and its franchise partners donated more than $635,000 to fund 1,457 teacher projects across the country. By October of this year, SONIC will have donated more than $1 million in supplies and learning materials over time.

"We were thrilled with the hundreds of thousands of votes cast for SONIC Teacher projects on LimeadesForLearning.com last year. Thanks to our great customers, we were able to impact many teachers and students," said Clifford Hudson, chairman and chief executive officer for Sonic Corp.

"In its second year, we believe that Limeades for Learning is gaining momentum and anticipate that we will make a difference in even more classrooms than we did in 2009. School districts across the country are challenged to provide materials for their classrooms as they're faced with shrinking budgets. SONIC customers understand this and we want to help in any way we can."

Once consumers vote for a teacher's project online, they can send notices to friends and track the project's progress to ensure it receives as many votes as possible for funding. An interactive map allows visitors to view the number of teacher projects and dollars donated in real-time nationally and by city or state. As of Aug. 30, more than 6,000 teacher projects have been requested through Limeades for Learning.

For more information on Limeades for Learning and how teachers, students and customers can get involved, please visit LimeadesforLearning.com.

About SONIC Drive-In

SONIC, America's Drive-In (Nasdaq: SONC) started as a hamburger and root beer stand in 1953 in Shawnee, Okla., called Top Hat Drive-In, and then changed its name to SONIC in 1959. The first drive-in to adopt the SONIC name is still serving customers in Stillwater, Okla. As the nation's largest chain of drive-in restaurants, SONIC has more than 3,500 drive-ins in 42 states coast to coast. More than 3 million customers eat at SONIC every day; and with more drink combinations than any other quick-service restaurant – more than 168,000 – SONIC is Your Ultimate Drink Stop®. For more information about Sonic Corp. and its subsidiaries, visit SONIC at www.sonicdrivein.com. Through Limeades for Learning, SONIC and its franchise partners have donated more than $638,000 dollars to public school classrooms in local communities across the country. Visit www.limeadesforlearning.com to learn more about SONIC's commitment to education and the upcoming fall 2010 campaign.

About DonorsChoose.org

Founded in 2000, DonorsChoose.org (www.donorschoose.org) is a nonprofit Web site where public school teachers describe specific educational projects for their students, and donors can choose the projects they want to support. After completing a project, the donor hears back from the classroom they supported in the form of photographs and teacher thank-you letters. To date, 103,000 public and charter school teachers have used the site to secure funding for $ 36.4 million in books, art supplies, technology, and other resources that their students need to learn. Through DonorsChoose.org, individuals from all walks of life have helped 2.3 million students.