Cathy S. Truett

The early morning sky was just beginning to glow along the edge of the eastern sky as young Truett leaned his bike against the porch and hurried into the busy kitchen of the crowded downtown Atlanta house.

“Well, Son, how was your first day helping Sam on his paper route?” Mrs. Cathy paused for a moment to give her son a quick hug before turning back to the stove.

“Just fine, Mama. And I met the most beautiful little girl. Do you want me to take the coffee out now?” Truett grabbed a tray full of cups and headed into the small dining room where the Cathy’s boarders were just arriving for breakfast.

Along with his bother and sisters, he joined in to help their mother with preparing and serving the filling breakfast their boarders expected.

Once the morning meal was finished, it was time to clean up the kitchen and then the small house were Truett’s family lived.

“Sometimes, I wish we still lived on a farm,” Truett said later that day while helping to peel potatoes for dinner. “Tell me again why we had to move here?”

His mother sighed patiently, “Because boll weevils wiped out our cotton crop. We weren’t the only ones who had to give up farming.”

“So why do we have to take care of all these people?” asked another sibling.

Once again, his mother sighed and replied “Because your Dad works as hard as he can at selling insurance, but times are hard right now and we have to take in boarders just to make ends meet.” The Cathy’s took in other people who were scrambling to stay afloat financially. For one dollar a day, renters could share a bedroom with two or three other people and eat two meals a day.

Truett bounced up and down, “Mom, Mom, I have an idea. I can get my own paper route. That way we will have the extra money from my business selling Cokes AND the money from my magazine sales and if I get a paper route, then I’ll have enough money to give you so that Dad can be home more.” The young boy’s eyes gleamed with excitement and all the other children joined in enthusiastic and noisy support.

“Shh,” cautioned his mother. “Mr. White is working night shifts again and he’s trying to sleep. Thanks, Truett, every little bit helps.”

Soon, Truett was able to add a paper route for the Atlanta Journal and Constitution to his portfolio of successful business ventures. Since the age of eight, he had been buying six-packs of Coca-cola and selling the individual bottles at a profit, both door-to-door and from a soft-drink stand in the front yard. And he was making money selling magazines door-to-door. All this he gave to help his family in addition to the on-going work helping out taking care of the tenants in their house.

For the next eight years, Truett delivered papers. It was hard work but the young man was building a solid foundation in customer service skills and business management. He refined his expectations and honed an exemplary work ethic. It was soon apparent to him that he wanted to own his own business, possibly a restaurant or grocery store.

But all the business success and activities weren’t enough to fill the empty spot in Truett’s life where his father should have been.

While the Cathy’s were living in Techwood Homes, one of Atlanta’s public housing developments, young Truett met a man who would show Truett how to fill that void. Mr. Abbott was a Sunday school teacher who showed Godly care and concern for his class.

“Tell me, Truett, what do you think is making you so sad all the time?” Mr. Abbott asked Truett one day while he was visiting his students at Techwood.

“Ah, nothing.”

Mr. Abbott was wiser than that, he knew Truett’s father was always absent and distant emotionally and he understood young boys. His son Ted would have answered the same way. Gently he began to explain the absolute and boundless love of God the Father. “Do you know the Bible can teach you all about how God is a loving and caring father?”

This Sunday School teacher had a profound impact on Truett and served as his role model because he reached out to a lonely boy and became a model of the loving and caring father through his walk with God.

Truett continued to grow in his Christian walk and refined his business values. He finished high school and served in the Army. After his discharge, Truett and his brother Ben decided to open a diner. Both men were full of ambition and vision for the “Dwarf Grill.”

“Boss, there are some more serious problems. Now we can’t find enough nails, and the builder’s supply has run out of lumber.” The construction foreman took off his hard hat and wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. “You all sure aren’t the only ones having trouble building right now. That war used everything up.”

Ben and Truett looked at each other across the blueprints unrolled on top of some long planks laid across two wooden saw horses. By mutual understanding, one brother began to clear the designs off the makeshift table and the other went for the truck keys.

“Here ya’ go, Billy, here’s five good strong planks, that’ll keep you busy for a minute or two. Why don’t you all go on home and come back tomorrow. We’ll have nails and wood for you then.”

The brothers drove for hours through small country towns, buying up nails from small stores and finding old buildings where they could salvage the lumber. All night, they worked at pulling and straightening old nails and preparing the boards for the framers.

For Truett and Ben, this was just one more episodes in a long series of obstacles that they overcame through hard work and creative thinking.

Their perseverance paid off when the Cathy brothers were able to open the Dwarf Grill in May of 1946. The diner quickly became popular and was successful.

One day, soon after, Truett began to court the same girl he had met during his first paper route.

“Jeannette, I have to say, you and I are a good match in a lot of ways. I do admire your Christian beliefs. I guess I had better start tithing also, since you are so faithful.” Truett smiled as he walked alongside Miss McNeill.

They strolled around the park for a few more moments before Jeannette spoke. “I have been tithing since I was in elementary school. It is something that God asks us to do. It is all His money anyway and without Him, I would never have enough. He says in Malachi 3:10 that we can test Him – if we bring Him back just 10% of all He gives us—He will see to it that the 90% we keep is way more than enough.” She smiled at her fiancée, “And it is true.”

Not only did Truett begin to tithe, as he became more and more successful, he began to give more and more extravagantly. He gave back to the community vast sums of money and he spent time, as a Sunday School teacher with young people. He remembered the difference Mr. Abbott had made in his life when he was a young, isolated and lonely boy. He still teaches a Sunday School class to 13-year-old boys, as he has done for nearly 50 years.

Without a doubt, S. Truett Cathy has become a successful business leader and philanthropist. Currently, there are more than 1,250 Chick-fil-A restaurants in 37 states and Washington D.C. Truett gives extravagantly to the community and to young people.

He founded the WinShape Centre® Foundation in 1984 This organization grew from his desire to "shape winners" by helping young people succeed in life through scholarships and other youth-support programs. The foundation annually awards scholarships up to $32,000 to between 20 and 30 students wishing to attend Berry College. These gifts are jointly funded by the Rome, Ga. institution. In addition, through its Leadership Scholarship Program, the Chick-fil-A chain has given more than $20 million dollars in $1,000 scholarships to Chick-fil-A restaurant employees since 1973.

The WinShape Homes® program is a long-term care program for foster children. Fourteen foster care homes have been started in Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and Brazil that are operated by Cathy and the WinShape Foundation. These homes, accommodating up to 12 children with two full-time foster parents, provide long-term care for foster children in a positive family environment.

WinShape® Camps was founded in 1985 as a series of two-week summer camps at Berry College to help boys and girls build self-esteem through physical and spiritual activities. Nearly 1,800 campers from throughout the country attend WinShape® Camps sessions annually.

In 2003, Truett helped his son and daughter-in-law, Bubba and Cindy, celebrate the opening of WinShape™ Retreat, a high-end retreat and conference facility also located on the Mountain Campus of Berry College. The multi-use facility hosts marriage-enrichment retreats along with business and church-related conferences, and in summer months, houses the girls attending WinShape® Camps.

In 1996, Chick-fil-A announced a multi-year title sponsorship agreement with the Peach Bowl – becoming the Bowl’s first-ever title sponsor. For the ninth-straight year, a sellout crowd watched the 2005 Chick-fil-A Peach® Bowl, which took place on December 30, 2005, in Atlanta’s Georgia Dome. The sold-out game continues to lead in charitable donations, including WinShape Homes®, scholarships and other charities. Chick-fil-A reinforced their sponsorship commitment when Atlanta’s college football bowl game changed its name to the Chick-fil-A Bowl® in 2006.

Christianity continues to be the signature characteristic of Truett Cathy’s business and private life. In business his Christian commitment shows up in his daily dealings with people and in his business dealings including in the fact that without exception, Chick-fil-A stores are closed on Sunday. A large plaque is located at the entrance to company headquarters proclaiming the corporate purpose: “To glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us. To have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A.”

 “A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches,

and loving favour rather than silver and gold.”

 Proverbs 22:1

Thanks to the following for contributions to this article:

THE CHICK-FIL-A-STORY

by

Dr. Richard E. Hattwick

Professor of Economics (Retired)

Western Illinois University

ChristiaNet.net

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