News

Dickey's franchisees pay it forward

Provided

April 23, 2020

Several of Dickey's Barbecue Pit franchisees are supporting their local communities despite facing challenges amid COVID-19. While Dickey's Barbecue continues to have national reach, their roots are strong in the communities they serve, CEO Laura Rea Dickey said in a company press release.

"Now more than ever, communities need to support one another and it's heartening to see our franchise family lift spirits everywhere with the gift of comfort food and great barbecue," she said.

Below are a few ways franchisees are helping their communities.

• Dickey's owner-operator Josh Wise in Newark, Ohio, donated 6,000 pulled pork sandwiches to his local first responders after he partnered with local businesses looking ways to give back. The efforts are inspiring a new wave of donations from guests who are calling in with donations and requesting food drops at their nearby hospitals, police stations and fire stations.
• Dickey's Rancho Mirage franchisee Lisa Weaver donated lunch to the California Highway Patrol, and in-turn they gave the small business owner a $1,000 donation. With those funds and the help of the charitable citizen donations made by others in her area, Weaver is continuing to feed community grocery store employees, 911 dispatchers, police officers, firefighters and medical staff.
• Dickey's Florida owner-operators, John Lockett and Wendy Williams, partnered to feed frontline responders in their area to show appreciation to the Gulf Coast regional medical staff. Their mission is to feed 10,000 frontline responders and together they have already fed over 3,000 medical staff employees.
• Dickey's owner-operator Tom Eggerud in Eagan, Minnesota, gave thanks to his neighborhood by surprising local residents with free hot meals. In addition, Eggerud and his family are donating free meals to their local hospitals, fire departments and police stations everyday throughout the month.
• Dallas Dickey's owner-operator Jobin Kuruvilla donated more than 200 meals to the medical care employees working at Mansfield Methodist Hospital and Arlington Memorial Hospital earlier this week to show thanks for their ongoing efforts to protect the community.
• Earlier this month, Dickey's Phoenix area locations partnered to give over 100,000 free pulled pork sandwiches to hundreds of local essential businesses, such as pharmacies, independent doctors' offices and grocery chains, like Costco and Kroger.

Dickey's guests can also give the gift of free barbecue by purchasing a First Responder Relief Pack that will go toward feeding local first responders in their areas. Dickey's will match every sandwich donated, according to the release. The First Responder Packs available on dickeys.com include bundles of five or 10 Pulled Pork Classic Sandwiches, and guests can also add any desired number of individual sandwiches to their donations