From left, Jeremy Hopper, Elizabeth Dykes and Beth Kelly get comfortable as they prepare to camp out until Thursday morning to qualify for free Chick-Fil-A meals for a year.
Jeremy Hopper was at Chick-fil-A at the Thompson Square shopping center very early this morning – 4:30 a.m., to be exact. And Elizabeth Dykes arrived about 25 minutes later.
Their mission: to be one of the first 1oo in line for the restaurant’s reopening Thursday at 6 a.m.
Customers could begin lining up today as early as 5:30 a.m., but they must spend the night to qualify for winning a year’s supply of Chick-Fil-A meals.
The first 100 get a free meal combo comprised of a Chick-fil-A sandwich, waffle fries and a drink once a week for 52 weeks.
“It’s essentially a gift card,” said Natalie Giddens, a CFA spokeswoman.
Winners have up to a year to use a card, and they’re not limited to using the card only once a week.
“They can come as many times as they want until the card is used up,” she said.
And if a person wants to get all 52 meals at once, then it can be done, she added.
“For me, it’s about the challenge, doing something different and outside the box,” said Dykes, who is from Amory. “I love Chick-fil-A. My son and son-in-law are soldiers and I think about them being outside all the time. So I wanted to do something different and make a lot of new friends at the same time.”
There were only a handful of people at noon, but those numbers are expected to grow this evening.
“As additional campers arrive, we’ll register them and they’ll bring their gear onsite, turning our parking lot into a 24-hour family friendly party,” Gibben said. “Chick-fil-A is providing entertainment, games, restroom access, a DJ dance party from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m., security and, of course, plenty of Chick-fil-A. We’ll continue registering participants until we have 100, plus 10 alternates.
Chick-fil-A team members and some of the campers worked to pack as many as 10,000 free meals for St. Luke’s food pantry.
In addition, Jamey Finley, the CFA operator/franchisee, hosted a Feeding Children Everywhere event in which campers and restaurant employees worked to pack up to 10,000 meals to be donated to St. Luke’s Food Pantry.
Also, Finley is collecting new and gently used children’s books at the restaurant today and tomorrow to benefit the Boys and Girls Club of Tupelo.
Hopper’s reason to get in line was simple: getting free food.
“I love Chick-fil-A,” he said. “I’d eat it a every meal if I could.”
Read more in tomorrow’s Daily Journal and online.