Roland Parrish and current Oak Cliff Lions Club president Ted Ferguson. Photo by Victoria Hernandez.
The Oak Cliff Lions Club presented the 2026 Bill Melton Humanitarian Award to local business leader and philanthropist Roland Parrish on Wednesday, April 22.
The Oak Cliff Lions Club Humanitarian Award was established in 1978. The first recipient was former Dallas Cowboys Coach Tom Landry. In 2010, the award was renamed the Bill Melton Humanitarian Award in 2010 after founding president, past district governor and former Dallas County treasurer Bill Melton.
Parrish, CEO and owner of Parrish Restaurants, has built a reputation for his hard work and generosity across North Texas. A two-time graduate of Purdue University and a record-setting track athlete, he went on to work at ExxonMobil for 13 years.
He applied to be a McDonald’s franchisee in 1986 and received a rejection letter that he has framed to this day.
“I never filled out another application, but I didn’t take no for an answer,” Parrish said at the award ceremony. “I am very happy that that young man, who was 35 years old, stood up to a Fortune 500 company.”
In 1989, he opened his first McDonald’s in Pleasant Grove, later opening his first Oak Cliff location in 2003. Today, he is a franchise owner of more than 20 McDonald’s restaurants in the Dallas area.
He made history as being the only chairman and CEO of the National Black McDonald’s Operators Association (NBMOA) to serve three consecutive terms. During that time he established the NBMOA Foundation to raise scholarship funds.
Additionally, Parrish has served on several boards and committees, including The Methodist Hospital Foundation, MLB – Texas Rangers Foundation, NBA Dallas Mavericks, Oncor Foundation, the Ronald McDonald’s House Charities of Greater North Texas, the Salvation Army, St. Philip’s School and Community Center and the Communities Foundation of Texas.
He made a $2 million gift to renovate the management and economics library at Purdue University, which was dedicated as the Roland G. Parrish Library of Management and Economics in April 2012.
Through the Parrish Charitable Foundation, he has funded scholarships for local students at South Oak Cliff, Spruce, DeSoto, Duncanville and Skyline high schools. He has also supported The Re-Imagining Red Bird Mall Project, where he is the second largest investor.
“Being a small businessman in the community, in Oak Cliff, in Dallas, Texas, to me when I look back … I’m just really proud of that,” Parrish said.
