Arby’s Foundation Fundraising Champion Secures $20,000 for Second Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Tennessee

Jonesborough, TN (November 3, 2020) — Last month, the Arby’s Foundation proudly hit a major milestone in their history—$100 million in grants given. A primary fundraising mechanism for the Foundation is the Make a Difference Campaign, a yearly in-restaurant fundraiser during which guests can donate $1 to support key youth-serving organizations, like Big Brothers Big Sisters, No Kid Hungry, and Junior Achievement. This year, the Foundation will grant more than $6 million to national and local youth-serving organizations across the country.
 
Arbico East, which operates Arby’s in the Tri-Cities, Tenn. and Va., is proud to say that one of our team members, Chanelle Whitaker, had a hand in helping the Foundation reach this $100 million milestone.
 
Coming off the heels of one of the most successful in-restaurant fundraisers to-date, the Foundation wanted to recognize a local restaurant team member who had a huge impact on their local fundraising efforts to officially take the Foundation to the $100 million finish line. The Foundation selected Chanelle Whitaker from Arbico’s Jonesborough, Tenn., Arby’s location. A true fundraising champion, Chanelle motivated her entire crew to raise funds as part of the Make a Difference Campaign, increasing her store’s donations year-over-year by more than 500%. In honor of this incredible accomplishment, Chanelle was given the honor of selecting a local youth-serving organization to provide a $10,000 grant on behalf of the Arby’s Foundation, officially bringing the Foundation to the $100 million mark.
 
Chanelle chose to grant the funds to Second Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Tennessee, a local food bank who has seen record demand from the community amid the pandemic.
 
“This year alone, Second Harvest has provided tens of millions of pounds of food and served people who never imagined they would need assistance to feed their kids,” said Second Harvest’s Executive Director, Rhonda Chafin.

Arbico East matches the Foundation's donation, bringing the total donation to $20,000.

Arbico East, a longtime supporter of Second Harvest Food Bank, proudly matched the Arby’s Foundation’s $10,000 donation, bringing the total donation to $20,000.

In response to the celebration, Chanelle shared the following:

It has been my pleasure to be a part of giving back to my community. I am excited for future endeavors as part of the Arby’s family and thank everyone involved for making this such an exciting and pleasant opportunity for me from start to finish! I would also like to thank the generous people from the Second Harvest Food Bank for running such an amazing program, making my choice effortless!

We're so proud to have Chanelle on the Arbico team. Her generosity and enthusiasm for giving set an example for future fundraising campaigns.

​Thank you to Chanelle, the Arby's Foundation, Second Harvest Food Bank, and our generous guests for making this donation possible!