Restaurant Brands Provide Support, Supplies and Meals to Help Communities Recover
Big-name restaurant brands have delivered funds and food to Southerners swamped by Hurricane Helene. Bojangles, Chick-fil-A, Denny’s, Domino’s and McDonald’s stepped in to help after the powerful storm killed more than 220 people, leveled towns, ruined roads, and shut off electric and cellphone service. The storm made landfall in Florida on Sept. 27 and then moved north, where it deluged mountain regions, hitting western North Carolina particularly hard.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has already disseminated $210 million in relief, but that is probably only the beginning for how much FEMA will pay out because of the Helene. CoreLogic, a company that provides analytic data on property, estimated storm damage at $30.5 billion to $47.5 billion. In response to the widespread devastation, several fast-food franchise restaurants have stepped up to support survivors with meals and money. Among them are:
Bojangles
The charitable arm of Charlotte, N.C.-based Bojangles, whose chicken-and-biscuit restaurants are concentrated in the Southeast, presented the American Red Cross with a $25,000 donation on Thursday, Oct. 3. The Bojangles Foundation directed that the gift be used for on-the-ground aid, according to QSR Magazine.
Bojangles also sent two tractor-trailer loads of bottled water that will be given out this week in ravaged areas. And from Oct. 7-31, the franchise will donate 10% of sales of its Heart-Shaped Bo-Berry Biscuits to the Red Cross, the magazine said. Bojangles resurrected the dessert because of the relief effort.
Chick-fil-A
In a corporate news release, Chick-fil-A Inc. said it is subsidizing the cost of meals in areas slammed by the storm and is working with the American Red Cross to provide additional relief and assistance to people and communities. Guests can donate through the Chick-fil-A app and to double the impact of their gifts, Chick-fil-A will match each dollar that is donated, up to $500,000. In addition, the company said it has donated 20 pallets of bottled water.
Chick-fil-A franchisees have pitched in, too, the news release stated. Americus, Ga., operator MeriBeth McNeill sent her food truck more than two hours away to Eastman, Ga. The CEO of a local hospital partnered with her truck workers to distribute 1,200 sandwiches and 600 bags of waffle potato chips. Michael Sexton, who runs a Chick-fil-A in Lake City, Fla., dispatched his food truck 70-plus miles away for three days to serve hundreds of chicken sandwiches, nuggets and waffle fries in Steinhatchee and Perry, Fla.
Denny’s
Denny’s dispatched its 60-foot-long Mobile Relief Diner, equipped with a full-service kitchen, to serve hot breakfasts in Asheville, N.C., from Friday, Oct. 4, through Tuesday, Oct. 8. A Southern Living article, citing Denny’s Facebook page, said the diner-on-wheels served up comfort food — pancakes, butter, syrup, sausages, coffee and water — to anyone affected by the storm, including first responders. Based in Spartanburg, S.C., Denny’s has served more than 3,000 meals in Helene’s wake, Nation’s Restaurant News reported.
“We try to bring a little bit of hope to people who have been hit by devastation,” program director Paul Spence said in a Scripps News report. “So we come out, we feed them a hot meal, comfort food, pancakes and sausage. And we talk to them a little bit, show that we care and the whole idea is to make them feel like there’s better days ahead.”
Domino’s
Domino’s sent a food truck to serve pizzas in the Blue Ridge Mountain town of Asheville, N.C., Fox News reported. “Just seeing pizza would be a relief! Way to go Dominos!” one person responded to a photo of the Domino’s truck posted on X (formerly Twitter) by another X user.
McDonald’s
McDonald’s Corp. has donated $1 million to the American Red Cross and Team Rubicon, a veteran-led humanitarian organization that serves communities in times of crisis. Employee relief funds also have been activated Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas to provide grants to restaurant employees who have suffered because of Hurricane Helene.
In a news release, the fast-food chain said: “Through in-kind donations over the coming days and weeks, we will look to contribute up to $500,000 directly to affected communities as a system, including the deployment of the McRig truck to serve free, hot meals to victims and first responders.” Suppliers, including Armada, Coca-Cola and Martin Brower, have combined efforts to ensure that McDonald’s restaurants are stocked and ready to serve Helene-damaged communities as they reopen, the news release added.
