Chick-fil-A Grafton opens with $25,000 donation to Virginia Peninsula Foodbank

Chick-fil-A Grafton will open May 21 at 6 a.m. at 5600 George Washington Memorial Highway in Yorktown, pairing about 110 new jobs with a $25,000 donation to Virginia Peninsula Foodbank. The restaurant is being led by York County resident Josh Burnette, the local owner-operator who also runs Chick-fil-A Victory Boulevard.

The project has been building for months. Chick-fil-A, Inc. bought about 6.94 acres at the Yorktown address for $2.1 million in October 2025, a land purchase that shows the scale and lead time behind the opening. For food recovery groups like A Simple Gesture, that kind of runway is useful because it gives nonprofits a chance to reach a new employer before the first lunch rush and before community relationships harden around routine.

Virginia Peninsula Foodbank says the need in its service area is wide. More than 61,000 people there, including almost 20,000 children, have limited or uncertain access to adequate food. The food bank says one donated dollar can equal three meals, and that its network of nearly 130 community partners distributes more than 12 million pounds of food each year. In that context, the $25,000 opening gift is not just ceremonial; it is enough to translate into a meaningful local response right as a new workplace is entering the market.

The donation also fits a larger pattern. Chick-fil-A corporate says every new restaurant opening is paired with a $25,000 donation to a local food bank, so the Yorktown check is a one-time grand-opening gesture within a standing corporate practice. The company says its broader hunger-relief work has surpassed the equivalent of 200 million meals since 2020, and more than 2,500 restaurants participate in its Shared Table program, which redirects surplus food to nonprofit partners. Locally, the partnership is not stopping at opening day: York County says Chick-fil-A Victory Boulevard will host a 5K and 10K on May 28 to support Virginia Peninsula Food Bank and efforts to provide 20,000 meals.

For nonprofits that depend on volunteer coordination, pantry partnerships and employer outreach, the lesson is straightforward. A new business does not have to wait to become established before it can support food access. Chick-fil-A Grafton is entering Yorktown as a job creator, a real-estate investment and an immediate donor, which is exactly the kind of local footprint that can strengthen a hunger-relief network from the start.