Joan Elhoffer's Journey from McDonald’s Crew to Community Leader
July 17, 2025
When you Round-Up for Ronald McDonald House Charities® (RMHC®), you’re doing more than giving spare change—you’re helping keep families together when they need it most. It is through this partnership between RMHC & McDonald’s and the support of passionate franchisees that your spare change is making a real impact on those in need. Joan Elhoffer, a McDonald’s franchisee in Missouri, has worked tirelessly to raise millions of dollars through the Round-Up for RMHC program through compassionate leadership and enthusiasm to give back.
How One McDonald’s Franchisee Made a Big Impact
Joan Elhoffer has been with McDonald’s for over 50 years. Today, she owns eight restaurants across Missouri, but one of the most impactful parts of her legacy has been raising millions of dollars through the Round-Up for RMHC program and serving as the global franchisee advocate for the program to McDonald's markets around the world.
Back in 2019, when the Round-Up for RMHC program was created, Joan was determined to bring the program to life locally, believing customers would welcome a simple way to support families with children who are ill or injured. She was right.
Her restaurants now raise as much as $30,000 a month through Round-Up for RMHC. Her enthusiasm for the program has helped increase adoption of the program across the U.S. and internationally, which has also played a role in expanding the program to customers using McDonald's self-order kiosks.
Round-Up for RMHC took off during COVID, when customers couldn’t make a connection anywhere. (…) Everybody was lost. It seemed like this one little ask meant a whole lot to people, because they could do something without a whole lot of effort.” – Joan Elhoffer, McDonald’s Missouri Franchisee
More Than Donations—A Culture of Caring
As a board member and secretary of RMHC of St. Louis, Joan has made it her mission to bring visibility to the Round-Up for RMHC program. Her dedication has not only improved employee morale but has also sparked friendly competition among restaurants to see who can raise the most money by rounding up for RMHC.
Her leadership has helped inspire a broader adoption of Round-Up for RMHC nationwide, showing how one operator can create ripple effects far beyond her own community.
Lifting People Up, One Opportunity at a Time
Beyond Round-Up for RMHC, Joan is also a passionate supporter of Archways to Opportunity, McDonald’s U.S. initiative that assists franchisees in providing education and career opportunities to its restaurant employees.
She recently celebrated the 10-year anniversary of Archways with Missouri’s Lt. Governor, highlighting how McDonald’s helps build brighter futures from the inside out.
We have an amazing tool with Archways to Opportunity to be able to help our employees stay working for us while they're in school and provide funds to help them get their education”
– Joan Elhoffer
A Full Circle of Good
Her advice for future McDonald’s restaurant owners? “If you want to get in this, think really long and hard, get behind the counter and learn the business first,” she said. “Get in there, work side by side, learn every position and really learn how to develop your people because that’s your saving grace.”
Now, with one of her daughters joining the family business, Joan’s story has come full circle. Since she was just 16 years old, her career has been grounded in strong values, driven by people, and guided by the belief that McDonald’s is more than just a restaurant; it is a place where memories are made, futures are shaped, and rounding up can help change lives.
As Joan puts it: “To me, it’s really about staying committed to doing the right thing, leading by example, and supporting the community every step of the way.”