Find a Restaurant
The history behind Chick-fil-A Shared Table
October 14, 2021
From one Tennessee Chick-fil-A restaurant to nearly 2,000 participating locations and more than 23 million meals donated
Nearly 30 years ago, Chick-fil-A® restaurant Owner-Operator Marshall Wilkins made his first food donation in Knoxville, Tenn. Little did he know, this simple act of kindness would ultimately inspire the creation of the Chick-fil-A Shared Table® food donation program.
A local start
Committed to serving his community, Marshall became the 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 nonprofit, 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.
Marshall started by donating Chick-fil-A® Chicken Sandwiches and Chick-fil-A® Nuggets to KARM. Now, as the Operator of two additional restaurants in Knoxville, Chick-fil-A Kingston Overlook and Chick-fil-A Turkey Creek, he donates a variety of menu items such as salads, fresh fruit, biscuits and more with donations collected weekly. These items are then repurposed to make meals like chicken cacciatore, chicken and dumplings and orange chicken.
“Tuesdays in Knoxville are known as Chick-fil-A days,” Marshall said. “Everybody looking for a hot meal knows that on Tuesday they have a pretty good chance of enjoying repurposed Chick-fil-A items in some way, shape or form.”
Reaching more communities
In the mid-1990s, Marshall hired three siblings as Team Members whose father coincidentally worked for Food Donation Connection (FDC), a nonprofit 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 organized 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 program became an official corporate social responsibility program of Chick-fil-A, Inc. Now, nearly 2,000 Chick-fil-A® restaurants are engaged in the effort, which recently celebrated the milestone of donating 23 million meals and counting to those in need.
The Chick-fil-A Shared Table program 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.
“The Chick-fil-A Shared Table program is focused on being a good neighbor,” 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 Giving Back page to learn more about how Chick-fil-A is fighting hunger and food insecurity.
From one Tennessee Chick-fil-A restaurant to nearly 2,000 participating locations and more than 23 million meals donated
Nearly 30 years ago, Chick-fil-A® restaurant Owner-Operator Marshall Wilkins made his first food donation in Knoxville, Tenn. Little did he know, this simple act of kindness would ultimately inspire the creation of the Chick-fil-A Shared Table® food donation program.
A local start
Committed to serving his community, Marshall became the 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 nonprofit, 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.
Marshall started by donating Chick-fil-A® Chicken Sandwiches and Chick-fil-A® Nuggets to KARM. Now, as the Operator of two additional restaurants in Knoxville, Chick-fil-A Kingston Overlook and Chick-fil-A Turkey Creek, he donates a variety of menu items such as salads, fresh fruit, biscuits and more with donations collected weekly. These items are then repurposed to make meals like chicken cacciatore, chicken and dumplings and orange chicken.
“Tuesdays in Knoxville are known as Chick-fil-A days,” Marshall said. “Everybody looking for a hot meal knows that on Tuesday they have a pretty good chance of enjoying repurposed Chick-fil-A items in some way, shape or form.”
Reaching more communities
In the mid-1990s, Marshall hired three siblings as Team Members whose father coincidentally worked for Food Donation Connection (FDC), a nonprofit 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 organized 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 program became an official corporate social responsibility program of Chick-fil-A, Inc. Now, nearly 2,000 Chick-fil-A® restaurants are engaged in the effort, which recently celebrated the milestone of donating 23 million meals and counting to those in need.
The Chick-fil-A Shared Table program 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.
“The Chick-fil-A Shared Table program is focused on being a good neighbor,” 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 Giving Back page to learn more about how Chick-fil-A is fighting hunger and food insecurity.
