NEW YORK, Dec. 14 (JTA) If his wish is granted, Sruli Kacowicz may someday be able to have kosher Big Macs.
The sixth-grader attending the Chabad-run Rambam Day School in the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo was one of 430 contestants from across the South American country who participated in an international contest seeking elementary school children’s ideas for how to better the world in the coming millennium.
Kacowicz, 12, it turned out, was among the 2,000 winners of the “Visionaries of the Millennium” contest, which was sponsored by McDonald’s, Walt Disney World and UNESCO.
Kacowicz’s winning entry offered ideas for how to better the lives of the elderly, suggesting programs that would enable them to share their life experiences with the rest of society.
As a contest winner, he is receiving an eight-day trip to Florida’s Walt Disney World next May.
He recently appeared at a presentation ceremony in Montevideo, where he spoke on behalf of the seven other winners from Uruguay.
Standing in front of a packed room of reporters, representatives of the contest’s three sponsors and officials from the elementary school system of Uruguay, Sruli wore his yarmulke, tzitzit and school uniform.
After thanking the sponsors, his parents and his school, the youth offered a modest request.
Could McDonald’s open a kosher fast-food restaurant in Montevideo similar to the one in Buenos Aires?
The McDonald’s representatives, caught off guard, responded that they would see what could be done about fulfilling his request.
So for now, Kacowicz is off to Disney World. Perhaps someday in the not-too-distant future, he and his friends will experience a burger straight off McDonald’s grills.
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