What is the Shared Table programme?
More than 2,200 Chick-fil-A® Restaurants participate in Chick-fil-A Shared Table, a programme for local Owner-Operators to donate surplus food to charitable organisations in their community.
At the end of each day (except Sundays), participating Chick-fil-A restaurants prepare and package their surplus food for donation to local organisations to help reduce hunger and minimise waste from restaurants by partnering with local charitable organisations.
How it all began
From one Tennessee Chick-fil-A restaurant to more than 2,200 participating locations and more than 30 million meals donated globally
Nearly 30 years ago, local Chick-fil-A® restaurant Owner-Operator Marshall Wilkins made his first food donation in Knoxville, Tennessee. Little did he know, this simple act of kindness would ultimately inspire the creation of the Chick-fil-A Shared TableTM food donation programme.
A local start
Committed to serving his community, Marshall became the local Owner-Operator of Chick-fil-A East Town Mall in the early 1980s.
Early in his tenure, he observed that despite efforts to reduce the amount of unserved food in his restaurant, there was still some surplus food at his restaurant each week. Determined to avoid the food going to waste, he sought a practical solution: he connected with a nearby non-profit, Knoxville Area Rescue Ministries (KARM), and asked if they could use the restaurant’s excess food in their soup kitchens. KARM gladly accepted, beginning a three-decade partnership.
Reaching more communities
In the mid-1990s, Marshall hired three siblings as Team Members whose father coincidentally worked for Food Donation Connection (FDC), an organisation that links food service donors with surplus food to local hunger relief agencies, like KARM. Following the timely introduction, Chick-fil-A, Inc. kicked off a partnership with FDC that has continued to this day, allowing for organised food pickups and drop-offs to local shelters. By 2012, enough restaurants across the country had joined together to donate surplus food to local charities through FDC that the Chick-fil-A Shared Table programme became an official corporate social responsibility programme of Chick-fil-A, Inc. Now, more than 2,200 Chick-fil-A® Restaurants are engaged in the effort, which recently celebrated the milestone of donating 30 million meals and counting to those in need.
Shared Table in the UK
The Chick-fil-A Shared Table programme continues to grow, with restaurants embracing the opportunity to help advance the brand’s shared desire and give back to their communities in a tangible, meaningful way.
Chick-fil-A is excited to partner with award-winning giving platform Neighbourly to implement the Chick-fil-A Shared Table programme in the UK. In celebration of each new restaurant opening in the UK, each restaurant will have the opportunity to participate in programme.
“The Chick-fil-A Shared Table program is focused on being a good neighbour,” said Marshall. “It is a privilege for us to be able to serve those in need in our communities. Uplifting our communities goes hand in hand with Chick-fil-A’s purpose.”
Click here to learn more about the Chick-fil-A Shared Table program and visit the corporate social responsibility page to learn more about how Chick-fil-A is fighting hunger and food insecurity.
