DEFUNIAK SPRINGS, Fla. (WMBB) — Chicken is on the menu in DeFuniak Springs. Hundreds of cars are filing into the new Chick-Fil-A location on Highway 331. A grand opening on July 6 marked the start of 125 employees new full-time and part-time jobs. As part of the opening day festivities, Chick-Fil-A corporate donated $25,000 to feeding America […]
DEFUNIAK SPRINGS, Fla. (WMBB) — Chicken is on the menu in DeFuniak Springs. Hundreds of cars are filing into the new Chick-Fil-A location on Highway 331.
A grand opening on July 6 marked the start of 125 employees new full-time and part-time jobs.
As part of the opening day festivities, Chick-Fil-A corporate donated $25,000 to feeding America which will be distributed to local partners to aid in the fight against hunger.
Also, in the spirit of giving, the DeFuniak Springs franchisee Daniel Neil gave 100 local heroes serving at nursing homes and linemen working for Choctawhatchee Electric Cooperative (Chelco) free Chick-Fil-A for a year.
Neal told said he chose those recipients because they are close to his heart.
“The nursing home was a soft spot in my heart, because my father, my mom, my older sisters went through that on their way toward passing away, toward heaven, I believe. I know those people work hard, they’re not thanked a lot in life. They’re probably underappreciated in many ways, and I couldn’t do what they do. So I wanted to recognize them for the special people they are,” said Neil. “At Chelco same thing with the linemen, they keep us all with power and do things in storms and bad weather and dangerous situations. My wife has a sister whose husband passed away from dropping off a line and being electrocuted, so that meant a lot to me as well.”
Neal asks the public to be patient as they work out opening day kinks in the system.
“It makes me feel great and makes me feel like hopefully people have patience with us as we work through this. I’ve told many people after 35 years coming from stores that weren’t this successful and tough times in malls to give us patience. We’re going to get better. I didn’t move here to be average and I didn’t move here to have people that work here to be average,” said Neil.
This new location has been committed to the Chick-Fil-A shared table program, an initiative that redirects surplus food from the restaurant to local soup kitchens, shelters, food banks, and nonprofits in need.
To date, more than 18 million meals have been served nationwide from Chick-fil-A Shared Table donations.
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