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Chick-fil-A ends donations to 2 Christian anti-same-sex marriage groups, begins new philanthropic focus

Days after protests against the presence of Chick-fil-A's food truck at an Oregon high school's football games, the brand's foundation cuts funding to two anti same-sex marriage groups and announces a new approach to philanthropy with shorter-term commitments more focused on helping kids.

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November 19, 2019 by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group

One day after the Chick-fil-A Foundation told Reuters it was ending its donations to two Christian groups that oppose same-sex marriage, the chicken chain's philanthropic arm said it has, in fact, completely reworked its approach to donations, sharpening its focus to align with a goal of "nourishing the potential in every child." 

As a result, the foundation not only ceased funding to two anti-same sex marriage groups, The Salvation Army and Fellowship of Christian Athlete, according to Reuters, but also announced in a news release this morning that it's making a $9 million commitment to the following initiatives for 2020: 

• Junior Achievement USA partnership expansion to help the organization in its efforts with nearly 5 million students annually to provide K-12 work-readiness, entrepreneurship, financial literacy and experiential learning opportunities. 
• Covenant House International partnership expansion to help the organization work with homeless, runaway and trafficked young people. .
• Community food bank support through the donation of $25,000 to a community food bank at each new Chick-fil-A opening.

"Millions of children and youth face homelessness each year, including kids who have endured traumatic and adverse childhood experiences," Covenant House International President and CEO Kevin Ryan, said in the release. "The young people we serve are usually disconnected from their families and other social support, and we are committed to helping them all overcome hunger and homelessness."  

Multi-year foundation partnerships over

The foundation also said it will no longer make multiyear commitments to organization and will reassess its philanthropic partnerships annually. It said these partnerships could include both faith- and non-faith-based charities.  

Chick-fil-A told Reuters Monday it would stop donations to two Christian organizations that oppose certain LGBTQ causes, like same-sex marriage. That came immediately after one of the latest protests against the brand at an Oregon high school where students walked out after administrators allowed a Chick-fil-A food truck to serve customers at football games. The students walked out claiming that they were opposed to the organization's presence because it supported anti-LGBTQ causes. 

Reuters reported that following the West Linn-Wilsonville School District high school protest in Oregon, the Chick-fil-A Foundation confirmed it was ending its support for The Salvation Army and Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA), which both oppose same-sex marriage. 

In that case, the school itself opted to let the truck stay for the games, despite strong sentiments for and against the issue. The foundation told Reuters Monday, however, it was ending its support of the two Christian organizations which have previously received millions in donations from Chick-fil-A. 

"We made multi-year commitments to both organizations and we fulfilled those obligations in 2018," a spokeswoman for Chick-fil-A told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

The company told Reuters it was, in fact, ending donation commitments of more than a year, but refused to say whether the latest protest had played a role in that decision. Last year, Reuters reported that the Chick-fil-A Foundation provided $1.65 million to the FCA and $115,000 to the Atlanta branch of The Salvation Army, according to IRS documents. 

Salvation Army told Reuters the decision was only hurting those most in need. 

"We serve more than 23 million individuals a year, including those in the LGBTQ+ community," The Salvation Army told Reuters. "When misinformation is perpetuated without fact, our ability to serve those in need, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, religion or any other factor, is at risk."

About S.A. Whitehead

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Pizza Marketplace and QSRweb editor Shelly Whitehead is a former newspaper and TV reporter with an affinity for telling stories about the people and innovative thinking behind great brands.