TOPSHAM — Aaron Fitzgerald, general manager at the Topsham McDonald’s restaurant, has been selected to receive the 2016 Ray Kroc Award.

The an annual performance-based award recognizes the top 1 percent of McDonald’s restaurant managers from around the world. The honor comes with a cash prize and a trophy.

Fitzgerald has been working for McDonald’s for nearly 10 years. He will be awarded the prize April 13 at the Ray Kroc Awards Gala in Orlando, Fla., hosted by Steve Easterbrook, McDonald’s president and chief executive officer, and David Fairhurst, McDonald’s executive vice president and chief people officer.

Fitzgerald began his career with the company in 2006 as a crew person at the Lisbon restaurant and was promoted to manager in 2008. In 2011 he transferred to the Lisbon Street, Lewiston, restaurant, serving as general manager there for nearly five years before moving on to the Topsham McDonald’s in 2015.

As McDonald’s GM in Topsham, Fitzgerald oversees the annual Giving Tree donation campaign which benefits Big Brothers and Big Sisters. He is a volunteer for the annual Kiwanis Pancake Breakfast in Auburn, bringing food donated by McDonald’s. He is also a Sunday school teacher at the Grace Community Church. He resides in Wales with his wife and their two children.

Named after McDonald’s Corporation founder Ray Kroc, the award was established in 1999 to honor hardworking managers in both corporate owned and independently owned and operated restaurants.

Winners of the Ray Kroc Award run high performing and profitable restaurants that meet McDonald’s critical customer standards of quality, service and cleanliness. They have strong business knowledge and achieve superior results in restaurant operations, people management and building the business.

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