Chick-fil-A provides thousands of water bottles for local students

Published 10:00 pm Friday, September 25, 2020

With drinking fountains shut down in schools in hopes of minimizing the possibility of spread of the new coronavirus (COVID-19), water bottles have become a priority this year for students. Chick-fil-A used a cookie campaign to provide thousands of water bottles for students in Dalton Public Schools and Whitfield County Schools.

Each system received 3,000 water bottles, said Stephanie Dean, marketing director for the Chick-fil-A on West Walnut Avenue. Her store sold nearly 4,000 single cookies and 373 six-count cookies from Aug. 10-Sept. 10, while the store in Walnut Square Mall sold almost 1,200 single cookies and more than 100 six-count cookie packs during that time.

Chick-fil-A donated 100% of the proceeds from the individual and six-count Chocolate Chunk Cookie sales at both Dalton locations for that month-long period to the water bottle effort. The reusable water bottles are decorated with the Chick-fil-A insignia.

“Our goal every year is to do cookies for a cause, and we just need to identify a need,” said Isaac Holbert, owner/operator of the Chick-fil-A on West Walnut Avenue. Because Chick-fil-A already has done several projects for healthcare professionals during the pandemic, attention turned to schools as they began their 2020-21 academic year, and “we wondered, ‘What is the biggest need?'”

This spring, Chick-fil-A joined with Crosspointe church to provide Chick-fil-A gift cards to healthcare workers, including nurses, first responders (like members of the Dalton Police Department) and others on the front lines before expanding the project to Dalton Public Schools, Murray County Schools and Whitfield County Schools nutrition workers and bus drivers who kept feeding students even while school buildings were closed.

When attention turned to schools, both Dalton Public Schools and Whitfield County Schools suggested water bottle campaigns, so those became the mission, Holbert said. “We set a goal and knocked it out of the park.”

Since the start of the school year, “we’ve encouraged all students to bring water bottles from home they can refill throughout the day, but, unfortunately, not all students have access to reusable water bottles,” said Kris Horsley, communications specialist for Whitfield County Schools. “Enter Chick-fil-A (and) their donation, (which) is putting reusable water bottles in the hands of 3,000 Whitfield County students.”

“We greatly appreciate (both restaurants) and their owners, Isaac Holbert and Brett Lewis, for stepping in and helping to fill the gap,” Horsley said. Whitfield County Schools is dividing the water bottles among all its schools based on enrollment numbers, and “schools will then distribute the water bottles to students in need.”

Chick-fil-A “is a great partner, and they’ve helped us out in a lot of ways throughout this” pandemic, said Tim Scott, Dalton’s superintendent. “This is another (example) of them giving back to the community, and we’re thankful they’re so kind to us.”

Dalton Public Schools plans to provide its Chick-fil-A water bottles to students at all elementary buildings and Morris Innovative High School, as well as sixth-graders at Dalton Middle School, Scott said, adding, “This is amazing.”