Dickey’s Barbecue Pit Franchisees Pay it Forward

(Dallas, TX) Dickey’s Barbecue Pit franchisees are supporting their local communities in inspiring ways.  Even as the restaurant industry experiences challenges amid COVID-19, franchisees continue to perform acts of kindness such as feeding first responders and essential workers, along with collecting donations for those in need. While Dickey’s Barbecue continues to have national reach, their roots are strong in the communities they serve.

• Dickey’s Owner Operator Josh Wise in Newark, OH donated 6,000 pulled pork sandwiches to his local first responders after he partnered with local businesses looking ways to give back. The efforts of Josh and other Dickey’s franchisees are inspiring a new wave of donations from guests who are calling in with donations and requesting food drops at their nearby hospitals, police stations and fire stations. 
• Dickey’s Rancho Mirage Franchisee Lisa Weaver donated lunch to the California Highway Patrol and in-turn they gave the small business owner a $1,000 donation. With those funds and the help of the charitable citizen donations made by others in her area, Weaver is continuing to feed community grocery store employees, 911 dispatchers, police officers, firefighters and medical staff.
• Dickey’s Florida Owner Operators John Lockett and Wendy Williams partnered together to feed frontline responders in their area to show appreciation to the gulf coast regional medical staff. Their mission is to feed 10,000 frontline responders and together they have already fed over 3000 medical staff employees.
• Dickey’s Owner Operator Tom Eggerud in Eagan, MN gave thanks to his neighborhood by surprising local residents with free hot meals. In this video, Tom  and his team honor families keeping others safe by sheltering at home with slow-smoked favorites and comfort food from his location. In addition, Eggerud and his family are donating free meals to their local hospitals, fire departments and police stations everyday throughout the month.
• Dallas, TX Dickey’s Owner Operator Jobin Kuruvilla donated over 200 meals to the medical care employees working at Mansfield Methodist Hospital and Arlington Memorial Hospital earlier this week to show thanks for their ongoing efforts to protect the community. 
• Earlier this month, Dickey’s Phoenix area locations partnered together to give over 100,000 free pulled pork sandwiches to hundreds of local essential businesses such as pharmacies, independent doctors’ offices and grocery chains like Costco and Kroger.

"Now more than ever, communities need to support one another and it’s heartening to see our franchise family lift spirits everywhere with the gift of comfort food and great barbecue,” said Laura Rea Dickey CEO of Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants, Inc.

Dickey’s guests can also give the gift of free barbecue by purchasing a First Responder Relief Pack that will go towards feeding local first responders in their area. Dickey’s will match every sandwich donated in honor of those serving on the front line. The First Responder Packs available on dickeys.com include bundles of 5 or 10 Pulled Pork Classic Sandwiches and guests can also add any desired number of individual sandwiches to their donation. 

About Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants, Inc. 

Dickey's Barbecue Restaurants, Inc., the world’s largest barbecue concept, was founded in 1941 by Travis Dickey. For the past 79 years, Dickey’s Barbecue Pit has served millions of guests Legit. Texas. Barbecue.™ At Dickey’s, all our barbecued meats are smoked on-site in a hickory wood burning pit. Dickey’s proudly believes there’s no shortcut to true barbecue and it’s why they never say bbq. The Dallas-based family-run barbecue franchise offers several slow-smoked meats and wholesome sides with 'No B.S. (Bad Stuff)' included. The fast-casual concept has expanded worldwide with 2 international locations in the UAE and operates over 500 locations in 44 states. In 2016, Dickey’s won first place on Fast Casual’s “Top 100 Movers and Shakers” list and was named a Top 500 Franchise by Entrepreneur in 2018. Dickey's Barbecue Pit has also been recognized by Fox News, Franchise Times, The Wall Street Journal, QSR Magazine, Forbes Magazine and Nation’s Restaurant News. For more information, visit www.dickeys.com.