Fast food chicken giant Chick-fil-A said Monday it will stop donating money to two Christian charities after being inundated with protests from LGBTQ activists.
The company announced in a statement it will concentrate its charitable giving to three areas: education, homelessness and hunger, and said it will work with fewer charities than it has in the past. Instead of agreeing to multi-year giving arrangements with certain charities, it will reassess its giving plans each year, and the groups it gives to “could include faith-based and non-faith-based charities.”
The biggest news from the announcement, however, is who Chick-fil-A will no longer be giving money to, including the anti-gay marriage groups like Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Paul Anderson Youth Homes and Salvation Army. Conservatives immediately blasted the company for betraying its convictions.
Shame, shame on you, @ChickfilA. You are the 3rd most successful fast food franchise in the US. You had no reason to capitulate. But you did. Yes, shame on the progressive bullies too — yet the greater shame is yours, Chick-fil-A, you cowards. https://t.co/eTfALNMUz4
— Rod Dreher (@roddreher) November 18, 2019
Really @ChickfilA? This is the direction you want to go? You’ve garnered the unconditional support of millions not in spite of but BECAUSE OF your stances, which is the sole reason you’re successful. Idiocy. Bye! https://t.co/LIAzBt9Xos
— Allie Beth Stuckey (@conservmillen) November 18, 2019
Chick-fil-A gave $1.65 million to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and another $115,000 to The Salvation Army’s Atlanta branch, according to its 2018 declaration of charitable giving to the IRS. To date, Chick-fil-A has donated more than $52 million to charities.
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, the father of former Trump administration Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, was among the dissenters. In 2012 with the company under fire after anti-gay-marriage statements by CEO Dan Cathy, Huckabee coordinated a counter-movement. Huckabee said the company is no longer “true” to the convictions of its founder in a tweet.
In Aug 2012, I coordinated a national @ChickfilA Appreciation Day after they were being bullied by militant hate groups. Millions showed up. Today, @ChickfilA betrayed loyal customers for $$. I regret believing they would stay true to convictions of founder Truett Cathey. Sad.
— Gov. Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) November 18, 2019
Chick-fil-A simply said it had fulfilled its previous commitments and would shift its focus to “education, homelessness and hunger,” and declined to comment on whether the protests had any effect on the decision. A spokeswoman told Reuters the decision was “made to create more clarity.”
“We made multi-year commitments to both organizations and we fulfilled those obligations in 2018,” she said.
Editor’s note: Is Chick-fil-A making a smart business decision here or is it turning its back on its convictions and bowing to pressure from activist groups? Did the charitable givings of Chick-fil-A make you avoid the chain in the past, or will you avoid it moving forward after this announcement? Share your thoughts below.