When the owners of Chicken Jack’s decided they wanted to do a fundraiser, they specifically looked for an organization that helps families offset the cost of early learning and childcare.
That type of work is especially important to Pong Salisbury, one of the owners of the Asian chicken restaurant, who had a daughter when he was 16. He was going to school and working, but struggled to afford childcare.
“This one was a big deal to us because of what it was for,” Salisbury said of the fundraiser.
On April 23, Chicken Jack's donated 100% of the profits from all sales for the entire Saturday — their busiest day of the week — to TLC Learning Center.
“I would say this is our most successful restaurant fundraiser and we’ve been around 66 years, so that’s saying something,” said Amy French-Troy, development and communications coordinator for the early childhood education and pediatric therapy center.
The more than $3,000 raised will go into the TLC scholarship fund, which supports families who don’t qualify for county assistance but still can’t afford childcare. Childcare affordability is a growing crisis in Colorado, where families spent an average of nearly 20% of their income on childcare in 2020, according to data compiled by Move.org.
A 2019 report from Child Care Aware of America found that the annual cost of an infant care center in Colorado averaged $15,600, with some single parents paying nearly half their income for this type of care. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services defines affordable childcare as no more than 7% of a family’s income.
French-Troy explained that restaurant fundraisers are usually restricted to a portion of the profits and customers might have to mention the center or show a flier, so donating all profits with no strings attached was incredibly special.
“It’s just so unusual for a restaurant to do this, but especially recognizing the childcare issue that’s going on right now,” she said.
Salisbury said the restaurant decided to give all profits from that day because they wanted to keep it simple and focused on the center.
“We’re supposed to be here to celebrate and raise funds and awareness,” he said.
Salisbury and the other members of the restaurant team emphasized that giving back to the community is a huge part of their goal at Chicken Jack’s.
“Anytime that we can give back to our community,” he said. “We started here in Longmont. We’re locally owned and operated, so that’s why we like to give back to the community. Without the community, we really have nothing but a fancy restaurant.”
