In 1955, Truett Cathy set a mayonnaise jar on the restaurant counter. The reason? To help Team Member Eddie White raise funds to pursue his dream of a college education.
Thanks to contributions from guests and Truett himself, Eddie’s dream came true. After graduation, Eddie went on to have a career in education, eventually serving as Assistant Superintendent in the greater Atlanta area.
From that jar, Chick-fil-A’s educational assistance was born.
Since 1970, Chick-fil-A has helped over 66,000 Team Members achieve their remarkable futures through a total investment of $112 million in scholarships. In 2021, we awarded $19 million in scholarships to 7,480 incredible Team Members.
Introduced in 2017, the Remarkable Futures Scholarships initiative has grown substantially. This year alone, Chick-fil-A, Inc. will award more than $24 million in scholarships, which include:
- The 12 True Inspiration Scholarships of $25,000.
- 12,699 $1,000 and $2,500 Leadership Scholarships for Team Members.
In 2020, Chick-fil-A started selling bottled sauces in select states, and 100% of those profits are donated to the Remarkable Futures Scholarship initiative. This resulted in an additional 2,200 scholarships in 2022.
(Reference – Chick-fil-A Website)
Scholarship season is our favorite season at Chick-fil-A Goodyear + Avondale! We love being able to support our team member’s futures through the Remarkable Futures Scholarship. When applications rolled around last Fall, we were ready. Our Administrator, Annie Backus, took the lead in this year’s push for scholarship applications. She held meetings to help with the application, hosted a Q&A night for team members and their parents, and encouraged our team members. This took up a majority of Annie’s time for several months. It was all worth it, as we had a record breaking 58 scholarship applications between our two locations!
Once the applications were submitted, all that was left to do was wait. Chick-fil-A Inc. contracts with Scholarship America for the selection process, leaving us all holding our breath until the spring when winners are announced. We received word that our team members had been awarded over $100,000 toward their futures. And that is when the celebration began!
Please celebrate with us in congratulating our 2022 Remarkable Futures Scholarship Recipients!
This year, one of our team members received an extra special surprise. Our very own Fernando, a team member at our Avondale location and a senior at La Jolla High School, was one of 12 Chick-fil-A True Inspiration Scholars, and was awarded $25,000 for his future schooling.
A first-generation American, Fernando had to learn English when he moved from Mexico during his adolescent years. While this initially affected his grades, he was determined to master the language and excel. Buckling down, Fernando enrolled in summer school and was taking Advanced Placement Literature by high school.
In addition to serving in his hospitality role at Avondale FSR, Fernando helps his mom prepare Mexican foods and beverages for her small business every morning—long before school starts. His Team Leader says Fernando’s positive attitude and engaging personality are contagious to others in the restaurant and will take him far as he pursues a degree in Neurosonography at Arizona State University.
Bruce, our Operator at Chick-fil-A Goodyear and Chick-fil-A Avondale is passionate about helping out team members apply for this scholarship program. Bruce attended college with the help of scholarships, and after a successful career in the Air Force he set his sights on Chick-fil-A. During his 20 years serving the West Valley, Bruce has continued to be our students’ biggest cheerleader and loves to encourage our students to apply for the scholarship program. He especially loves celebrating our scholarship winners.
Since Chick-fil-A started this program in 2017 we have celebrated over 100 scholarship recipients.
We love our team members and feel so honored to be able to celebrate their achievements and futures!
