In 2012, Chick-fil-A made national headlines when its president Dan Cathy spoke publicly in support of traditional marriage. Reaction by media and some politicians was predictable. Groups tried boycotting the Christian owned company, but it backfired. Chick-fil-A grew in popularity.
In early 2015, a terrible ice storm hit the south. The press showed miles of cars stranded on frozen interstates, with buses holding school kids up to 24 hours because of the ice. But during that storm, few people heard about the actions of a Chick-fil-A restaurant along Birmingham’s Highway 280. Owner Mark Meadows closed early and sent his employees home. But the employees discovered they weren’t able to get home with all of the stranded motorists and clogged roads. Their store was 1½ miles from the interstate and 280 was a parking lot.
So Meadows and his employees fired up the kitchen and made chicken sandwiches as fast as they could, taking hundreds them out to stranded motorists. Some of the drivers tried to pay, but Meadows and his employees refused to take a penny. “This company is based on taking care of people and loving people before it's worried about money or profit,” said one worker.
But that wasn’t all Meadows and his crew did. They pushed cars and helped motorists, even allowing some people into their restaurant overnight to sleep in booths or on benches. The next morning, the workers prepared chicken biscuits and coffee, again refusing any payment even though they’d been up most of the night.
During that 24 hour period, that Chick-fil-A restaurant opened its kitchen, doors and hearts to hundreds of people in need. As one person who was helped said, “Mark Meadows and his staff lived up to the words of Jesus, ‘I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in’.” (Matthew 25:35)
None of this was reported in the media.
Amazing how God’s love can be shared when needed, isn’t it?
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