Family Owned Westminster Chick-fil-A Committed to Giving Back

The Chick-fil-A stores in Westminster have made a commitment to support community initiatives. The McDaniel family—PJ, the owner; Trudy, the general manager; and Trudy’s husband, a manager—have all worked for Chick-fil-A for more than a decade.

PJ opened the Chick-fil-A off Englar Rd and the one in TownMall. Both locations have been involved with the community over the years. They put on special events like bingo, mother/son and father/daughter nights at the mall as well as support charities, local churches and soup kitchens.

Patch asked the Chick-fil-A general manager, Trudy McDaniel, about the company's community service. 

Patch: What types of outreach do you do?

Trudy McDaniel: We do everything, from donating lunches to daycare, churches and senior centers to catering for schools or businesses. We provide food at school’s concession stands for football, basketball and soccer. We also donate to soup kitchens once a week as well.

Patch: Are these year-long projects?

McDaniel: Yes, but we took a break from the soup kitchen this summer. It’s harder for them to refrigerate the homemade chicken salad that we provide them in the summer. 

Patch: What other projects do you have going on?

McDaniel: Well, we also have staff that go into schools or job fairs and provide business mentoring to students; sometimes my son will go in and do that. We also host vocational bible schools during the summer that last a week at local churches. At the end every child receives a certificate of completion along with a coupon for a free kid’s meal.

Patch: Are any of the staff involved in this outreach?

McDaniel: Definitely. Some of the staff participates in the bible school, we all help with the catering and mentoring, and my husband, son and I manage all the outreach as well.

Patch: So your whole family is involved?

McDaniel: Yes we are! We try to show up at the events and support the charities or companies we are catering or donating to, to show support. Supporting the community and charities is very important to us.