Operations

White Castle donates to rival Wendy’s adoption foundation

The Cruz family. Provided.

February 18, 2022

White Castle has donated $10,000 to the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, the organization created by Wendy's founder Dave Thomas. Both restaurant chains are based in Columbus, Ohio, and have a long history of supporting causes at local and national levels, according to a press release.

"We've always had a great respect for the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption and its commitment to finding forever homes for children in foster care," Jamie Richardson, vice president at White Castle, said in the release. "We're honored to demonstrate our support for this important cause with a financial contribution."

Officials at White Castle came up with the idea to donate to the foundation during a recent discussion about the ironic turn of events that led to White Castle's involvement in an adoption.

In 2019, Jana Cruz won a trip for two to Belgium through a White Castle sweepstakes. COVID-19 postponed their trip, and the two ended up with insufficient time off to visit the country when it was time to rebook in 2021. As it turned out, they had begun proceedings in June 2020 to adopt a girl from Colombia and were planning to go to the South American country in 2021 to finalize the adoption.

White Castle and one of its suppliers came up with a solution. They swapped the trip to Belgium with one to Columbia to adopt a 14-year-old girl.

"We are incredibly grateful for what White Castle did to help with our trip to Colombia to complete our adoption," Cruz said in the press release. "We were having yard sales, selling crafts, and raffling items to help bridge the gap between what we had saved and what we needed. Having this trip paid for was absolutely beyond what we could have imagined."

"When we learned that Jana and Sergio were in the process of adopting their daughter, it was an easy decision to swap the Belgium trip for a trip to Colombia," Richardson said. "As a family-owned business, we have a genuine appreciation for family. That love of family sits at the core of everything we do. That's why we were honored to be a part of the Cruz's family journey and to support an amazing organization like the Dave Thomas Foundation."