Utah Chick-fil-A employee praised for paying for family’s wedding catering
Oct 7, 2022, 2:29 PM | Updated: 2:34 pm
(Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
CENTERVILLE, Utah — A Chick-fil-A employee is being praised after he covered the bill for a wedding when he heard of the challenges the family had faced.
Kelli Smith, the local restaurant operator of Chick-fil-A Centerville wrote in a post, “In July, Jared asked if we could cater a wedding at the last minute because a couple’s original caterer was unable to fulfill the order.”
The restaurant prepared the order and delivered it on the big day.
“I later found out there was more to the story,” she said. “Jared had actually paid the entire bill himself after learning of some challenges the family was going through. When I learned the Jared paid out-of-pocket, I reimbursed him but was floored by his act of kindness.”
The family wrote Jared a letter thanking him for his kindness.
It states, “A few days before my son’s wedding reception, we could not get in touch with the caterer. After months of planning, we had nothing and were in the middle of Utah’s Pioneer Day weekend. Desperately, we tried to find something, anything, to serve our guests but got only responses like, ‘can’t do anything for you,’ ‘you’re out of luck,’ ‘not enough time,’ and ‘no way you’ll find anyone at this late date.”
The family made one last call to Chick-fil-A, explaining their situation and that the money was gone and so was the food they planned on.
“We explained that my husband was out of a job making it difficult to replace the money already paid to the caterer. To our surprise, the response from Chick-fil-A was, ‘it would be my pleasure to help.'”
They coordinated specifics on the food and the date and then the day of the wedding finally arrived.
“At the end of the reception, I went to the employee, thanked him profusely, and asked what I owed him. His response was, ‘It’s been my pleasure, there is no bill.’ Never have we had such a kindness shown us.”
Smith explained that Jared had worked for Chick-fil-A Centerville since he was 16 years old. Now, eight years later, he continues his work at Chick-fil-A while also working as an officer with the Davis County Jail.
“I am so proud to have Jared as a Team Member, and grateful Chick-fil-A has the chance to have a positive impact on the lives of our customers,” Smith said.