Hung Ly, owner of two Chick-fil-A stores in Maryland, stopped by Hopkins Children’s August 12 with enough chicken sandwiches and nuggets, fruit and tea for all the hospital’s patients and their families. While one of the franchise’s mascot cows made (accompanied) rounds on the patient units, parents streamed into a conference room by the hospital lobby, where Chick-fil-A marketing staff handed out the goods. Parents could take a little stuffed cow on their way out with bags of food for themselves and their children. One young patient sent his mother down for more. “He just loves this,” she gushed to the good-natured Chick-fil-A representatives, who appeared as delighted to hand things out as the families were to receive them.
“We just want to shine a little light into lives that might otherwise be a little dark at the moment,” said Amanda Allen, one of Ly’s Chick-fil-A area marketing directors. “We think we’re changing their lives, but they are really changing ours. Everyone here is so nice and so appreciative.”
For Ly, owner of stores in Perry Hall and Parkville, Md., the idea to become a regular contributor to the happiness and well-being of ill and injured children and their families was born out of another act of kindness. When a family member told him earlier this year that a friend’s son and family were at Hopkins Children’s for surgery, Ly packed up some Chick-fil-A fare and brought it to them.
The experience, he said, “planted a small mustard seed, if you will, the idea that I could in some way serve people here at Hopkins.”
He sought Allen’s help in working out an agreement with Hopkins Children’s that would allow him to make regular visits. In consultation with Hopkins Children’s Director of Child Life Patrice Brylske, Parent Advisor Pam Griffin, Patient and Family-Centered Care Coordinator Barbara Hall and others, it was decided that Ly’s group would set up shop in the lobby conference room, and Hopkins staff would invite families down.
“Our hope is to give parents a little time away from the bedside, and leave here feeling refreshed and with something that will make their child happy,” said Ly. “We are fortunate to have this opportunity.”
Juliet Hall, from Chick-fil-A’s corporate office, watched the recent luncheon unfold. “Being of service is really what we’re all about,” she said appreciatively, adding that what Ly has begun here as a community service exemplifies the corporate mission, as well.
Watching the burgeoning crowd that lined up for Ly’s bounty, including the fruit portion donated by Coastal Sunbelt Produce, Barbara Hall expressed the gratitude of her Hopkins colleagues: “We are so grateful and thankful for what Mr. Ly and Chick-fil-A are making possible here. It makes our families feel valued and supported.”
As for the sheer number on line, which as lunchtime ended included nurses and other unit staff invited down once families were fed, she said, “You only have to say ‘Chick-fil-A’ once.”
Ly plans to visit Hopkins Children’s monthly.