Chick-Fil-A Sauce Fans Just Got Great News
Looks like Chick-fil-A found a charitable cause everyone can agree on. Starting in mid-November, two varieties of the fast-food chain's dipping sauces, Chick-fil-A sauce and Polynesian sauce, will be sold at participating retailers in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and Mississippi. All of Chick-fil-A's cut of the profits go to a scholarship program for employees. The two sauces will be sold in 16-ounce bottles for about $3.49 at Publix, Kroger, Walmart, and Winn-Dixie stores. They will be available nationwide in early 2021. The company announced the fundraiser recently on its website.
Chick-fil-A sauce is a smoky, mustardy barbecue sauce. Polynesian is a tangy sweet-and-sour. They are also sold in 8-ounce bottles in individual restaurants, although those sales do not go toward the scholarship fund.
Earlier this year, Chick-fil-A awarded $17 million in scholarships, including 12 scholarships of $25,000 each. Additionally, Chick-fil-A awarded $2,500 scholarships to 6,688 "team members" who were planning to enroll in a college or technical school this fall. Chick-fil-A has awarded $92 million in scholarships since starting the fund in 1973, when founder Truett Cathy put out an empty mayonnaise jar to start a college fund for one of his employees.
Chick-fil-A's scholarship is a feel-good story about helping employees
Chick-fil-A is accepting applications from eligible employees through December 1 for the next round of Remarkable Futures scholarships. Chick-fil-A asks applicants to describe the work they have done to better their communities. In addition to community service work, many of this year's winners overcame major adversities to excel at school while also acting as model employees at Chick-fil-A, earning money to support their families. One of the 2020 winners of the $25,000 scholarship was raised in a refugee camp after his family fled their home country, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This student, Christian Bondo, made honor roll for three years in high school even though English was his second language.
Chick-fil-A's scholarship program is definitely a feel-good story about how the company helps hard-working youths better themselves. But the Cathy family that still owns Chick-fil-A has been criticized for directing some of its charity toward anti-LGBTQ+ groups. Chick-fil-A's support for organizations such as the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the Salvation Army have led a number of places to ban the chain, including the San Antonio International Airport and Rider University. Possibly in response to the criticism, Chick-fil-A announced late last year that it would refocus its charity away from conservative religious organizations and toward groups that promote education and combat hunger and homelessness (via Vox).