Chick-Fil-A will quadruple the amount it will donate through its True Inspiration Awards with the funds going to African American non-profits.
According to the Atlanta Business Chronicle, Chick-Fil-A will increase the $1.2 million it donated in grants to nonprofits last year, to $5 million this year.
“The recent highly publicized and horrific deaths of Black men and women have rocked our nation and shed light on the injustice, systemic racism, and disparities that Black people endure daily,” Rodney Bullard, vice president of corporate social responsibility for Chick-Fil-A, said in a news release. “As a company, we are making a pledge to take action against racial injustice. The True Inspiration Awards have always been a platform to give back locally where our restaurants serve and by redirecting our grants to organizations supporting communities of color, we believe we can make an impact.”
Chick-Fil-A added nonprofits can apply for the grants through the company website later this summer or can receive a nomination from a restaurant operator based on the group’s work in its local community.
After the death of George Floyd, Chick-Fil-A CEO and Chairman Dan Cathy said in a blog post wealthy Americans should use their “power and influence” to address racial injustice. During a conversation about race in American last week at the Passion City Church in Atlanta, Cathy doubled down on his feelings.
“We’ve got a real bad situation. We don’t need to let this moment miss us. It has to hurt us. It has to hurt us. And we as Caucasians, until we’re willing to just pick up the baton and fight for our Black, African American brothers and sisters, which they are as one human race, we’re shameful.” Cathy said. “We’re just adding to it. Our silence is so huge at this time. We cannot be silent. Somebody has to fight and God has so blessed our city, but it’s shameful how we let things get so out of whack.”
In March Chick-Fil-A announced it will sell two of its sauces in retail stores with 100% of the proceeds going directly to the chain’s scholarship program, which awards team members scholarships to attend college. The chain also joined forced with rapper Kanye West to provide 300,000 meals to L.A. families.