Chick-fil-A President and COO Tim Tassopoulos told Bisnow its foundation will no longer donate to faith-based organizations:
After donating to more than 300 charitable organizations this year, the Atlanta-based fast-food chain will instead focus on three initiatives with one accompanying charity each: education, homelessness and hunger.“There’s no question we know that, as we go into new markets, we need to be clear about who we are,” Chick-fil-A President and Chief Operating Officer Tim Tassopoulos said in an interview with Bisnow. “There are lots of articles and newscasts about Chick-fil-A, and we thought we needed to be clear about our message.”
The LGBT community protested Chick-fil-A due to its contributions to the Salvation Army, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and the Paul Anderson Youth Home.
These organizations are not anti-LGBT. They do not advocate against homosexuality. They’re simply Christian organizations.
The protests expanded to include cities, universities, and airports.
Airports refused to have the company in its terminals. The Chick-fil-A in Reading, England, did not have its lease extended because the landlord said “the mall is meant to ‘offer an inclusive space where everyone is welcome.'”
Um, find me ONE Chick-fil-A that refused service to a homosexual.
Boston will finally get its first Chick-fil-A in a few months “after the late Mayor Thomas Menino pledged to ban the company from opening within city limits after Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy voiced his opposition to gay marriage in 2012.”
Despite the protests, Chick-fil-A’s sales remained steady. The protests only supposedly hurt the fast-food chain’s brand:
Chick-fil-A surpassed $1B in sales in 2001 and eclipsed the $5B mark in 2013, the year following Cathy’s statement on gay marriage. The chicken chain became the third-largest U.S. fast-food chain this year with $10.5B in sales, according to Nation’s Restaurant News data. Only McDonald’s and Starbucks bring in more revenue among fast-food chains.
Bisnow continued:
Starting next year, the Chick-fil-A Foundation plans to give $9M to organizations like Junior Achievement USA to support education, Covenant House International to fight homelessness and community food banks for its hunger initiative in each city where the chain operates. The company intends to dedicate $25K to a local food bank each time it opens a new location.“This provides more focus and more clarity,” Tassopoulos said. “We think [education, hunger and homelessness] are critical issues in communities where we do business in the U.S.”
Chick-fil-A said the foundation did not donate to the other organizations due to their LGBT stances. The foundation donated to the FCA to help with summer youth camps. The donations to the Salvation Army went to its “Angel Tree program, which provides Christmas gifts to children in need.”
The foundation hopes to see $32 million in charitable donations in 2020.
Something tells me this will do little to shut down protests. Meanwhile, I’ll still enjoy the Lord’s chicken.
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