In the immediate wake of the tragic mass shooting August 31 in Midland-Odessa, Texas that killed eight innocent people and wounded at least 25 more, employees of a two local Chick-fil-A restaurants responded by serving over 500 of the fast-food chain’s sandwiches to first responders serving on the scene of the tragedy.
As managers of the restaurants received news of the unfolding attack in the community, they offered to allow employees to go home to check on loved ones. Instead, however, the workers at the two Chick-fil-A restaurants chose to stay and prepare food for police, emergency medical staff, and other first responders, putting together over 500 sandwiches and other refreshments to deliver to the emergency workers.
“Absolutely blown away by this amazing team of people,” managers of one of the Chick-fil-A establishments posted on Facebook. “After heartbreaking events in our community today we planned to close early and send our team home to be with their families. As they were walking out of the restaurant an opportunity to feed local law enforcement presented itself and they were given the option to help [and] not one person said no. Partnering with Chick-fil-A Odessa Town Center they cooked 500 sandwiches and packaged them with the most joyful hearts and a lot of love.’”
The Facebook post went on to say that “sometimes light in a dark world looks as simple as a hot chicken sandwich. We just couldn’t be prouder of these helpers and their hearts of gold. Grateful is not an adequate word to express how we feel about all of our brave First Responders, they are true heroes. We are praying for our community in the days ahead and for all of those impacted by this tragedy.”
The actions by the employees of the Midland-Odessa Chick-fil-A restaurants are in keeping with the overall mission of the fast-food chain. Beyond serving great food with a smile, the company says that its corporate purpose is “to glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us and to have a positive influence on all who come into contact with Chick-fil-A.”
Photo: Chic-fil-A Odessa, University Blvd. Facebook post
