ST. GEORGE — Surprisingly the dinner fare in the Gardner Center Ballroom on the Utah Tech University campus Monday evening wasn’t Chick-fil-A spicy chicken sandwiches, french fries and Coca-Cola.
Instead, the 45 Chick-fil-A team members and employees who were there to receive scholarship checks dined on salmon and roast beef with asparagus spears covered in crumbled bacon and almonds.
It turned out to be a nice treat for the bird slingers as they and their family members were recognized and presented with scholarship checks of various sizes that combined to total nearly $100,000.
Franchise owner Deven Macdonald told St. George News that this is the fourth year in a row that Chick-fil-A has presented scholarships to qualified team members.
“I love watching these youth find that next level of their learning and education,” Macdonald said. “My goal with them is to teach them that you never stop learning in life, that we never arrive in life. We’re always growing, we’re always learning, we’re always progressing.”
The ballroom buzzed with energy as workers from different stores rekindled friendships and shared stories from the frontlines of the battle for chicken sandwich market supremacy in St. George.
Both the Red Rock Commons Chick-fil-A and the Bluff Street locations pride themselves on fast, friendly service from their young staff. Team members from both stores were on hand to receive their scholarships.
“What I’ve learned from hard experience is, I look for the heart over the qualifications on paper,” Macdonald said. “I think you’ll find that with each of these individuals that work for us. They’re unique and they have hearts of service. They want to touch and change lives.”
Macdonald didn’t have the exact numbers on hand but he estimated that somewhere around 20% of the scholarship recipients are first-generation college students.
He was even more pleased to note that four of the scholarship winners were four-time recipients, meaning they’ve stayed working at Chick-fil-A through much — if not all — of their college careers.
One of those four-time scholarship earners was Hannah Colson, a junior at Utah Tech studying to be a dental hygienist.
“It’s a really fun atmosphere, and it’s a great place to meet lots of friends,” Colson said to encourage future generations of Chick-fil-A employees.
Scholarship recipient Jared Merrell was just back from his mission to Mexico for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was looking for work as he entered school at Utah Tech University in September of 2022.
“My friend Hannah told me about the scholarship program at Chick-fil-A, and I needed it,” Merrell said. “That was a big reason why I got the job — I needed help paying for college.”
Merrell still works for Chick-fil-A and he is studying mechanical engineering.
“As you work there, you learn good habits, you learn to work hard,” Merrell said. “It helps you be diligent and always be on the lookout for opportunities to serve.”
Erin Hurst is a cancer survivor as well as a scholarship winner. She is finishing her physical therapy assistant program this semester and will then attend Utah Tech’s degree program in health administration.
“It’s a good place to work and to meet really good people,” Hurst said. “I needed a summer job and I ended up staying throughout school because they worked around my schedule.”
Hurst received treatment at the Huntsman Cancer Institute after she was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer almost four years ago. She said she was given a 15% chance of survival.
Beating cancer gave her a whole new outlook, she said, that she tries to share with young employees at Chick-fil-A.
“Every moment matters,” Hurst said. “How you treat people, what you do to help others. They say the secret ingredient is love, and it’s true.”
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