“We’ll register everyone, and they’ll bring their gear on-site, turning our parking lot into a 24-hour, family-friendly party,” Giddens said. “Chick-fil-A is providing entertainment, games, restroom access, a DJ dance party from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., security and, of course, plenty of Chick-fil-A. We’ll continue registering participants until we have 100, plus 10 alternates.”
The enthusiasts outside the Kettering restaurant included Desiree Belford of Kettering and her brother Donald Belford of West Carrollton.
“She had to talk me into it,” Donald Belford said. “But it wasn’t very hard once I heard there was free food involved.”
The restaurant chain’s signature “First 100” promotion, launched 13 years ago to mark each restaurant opening, has given away nearly $31 million in free food through 2016.
Here’s how it works:
• Participants can begin lining up 24 hours in advance, at 6 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 18, at each restaurant. Only adults residing in specific zip codes within approximately 25 miles of the restaurant are eligible for the giveaway, and they must offer identification to prove their residence.
• A digital gift card loaded with a one-year supply of free Chick-fil-A Meals — 52 meals consisting of a Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich, medium waffle fries and a medium beverage — will be given to each of the first 100 eligible adults, ages 18 and older with identification, in line when the doors open at 6 a.m. Thursday.
• If more than 100 people are on site when the line officially forms Wednesday morning, then all 100 spots will be determined by a drawing held that morning — and those selected still need to camp out for 24 hours to secure their spot, Chick-fil-A officials said.
Chick-fil-A also invites First 100 guests as well as restaurant customers to bring in new gently used children’s books as part of a book drive Wednesday and Thursday. Those collected at the Kettering location will be donated to Kettering Backpack Program, while books collected in Troy will benefit Free to Read in the Bethany Center in Piqua. The donated books at each restaurant will be placed in a nearly “Book House” that will serve as a free library exchange, Chick-fil-A officials said.
The 4,988-square-foot Kettering restaurant at 480 E. Stroop Road will seat 124. It will employ perhaps as many as 100, according to franchise owner Matt Eller. Eller grew up with Chick-fil-A: his father has operated one of the chain’s restaurants in Greensboro, N.C., for more than 23 years.
The 4,137-square-foot Troy restaurant is located at 1910 W. Main St. (Ohio 41) at Experimental Farm/South Stanfield Road. It will seat 106 and will employ 80 to 90, a Chick-fil-A spokeswoman last month. The Troy restaurant’s franchisee is Doug Knostman, a Troy native and graduate of Troy High School.
The Chick-fil-A restaurant chain currently operates a half-dozen locations in the Dayton region, including a restaurant that opened in 2015 in Cornerstone of Centerville. Another location on Miamisburg-Centerville Road (Ohio 725) in Washington Twp. completed a $1 million makeover in 2016.
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