More than 100 people showed up at the Niles Chick-fil-A, 5650 W. Touhy Ave., on the evening of Wednesday, Oct. 9 to participate in the company-sponsored First 100 Campout event. Chick-fil-A holds such events, which include a 12-hour overnight campout, on the eve of each restaurant’s grand opening.
Sign-up for the campout began at 6 p.m. and those who made it until 6 a.m. were rewarded with gift cards pre-loaded with 52 Chick-fil-A meals for a year.
Campers set up tents and chairs in the roped-off restaurant parking lot and were entertained throughout the night by members of the marketing team. Campers were treated to music, prize giveaways and games. One game was a musical chairs/scavenger hunt mash-up where contestants had to leave their seats and hunt for items such as a blade of grass, a toothbrush and lotion and return to their seats before a chair was eliminated from the game.
Campers were also treated to a dinner of Chick-fil-A sandwiches and chips and served chocolate chunk cookies and milk for dessert. The meals were prepared by dozens of the almost 125 team members recently hired at the restaurant.
Participants who were eligible to win gift cards were determined by local zip codes, though guests were welcome to join their friends for the evening whether they were eligible to receive gift cards or not.
Morton Grove resident Gina Howe, who was camping with a group of friends, has been a guest at a few Chick-fil-A First 100 Campouts but this was the first year she was able to fully participate and spend the night. She was invited several times by her friend, Traci Castro, who was also there.
“I had to, after all the times she asked me, I had to go to one,” said Howe. “So here I am! I’ve came to visit at other ones, but this is the first one I’m staying overnight.”
Castro, who lives in Buffalo Grove and was not eligible to receive a gift card, attended as Howe’s guest this time. Castro has been to eight First 100 Campouts and said she loves to attend because of the people she gets to meet.
“It’s just the coolest people and a really fun time and you get great food too,” she said.
Participants can sometimes build lasting friendships. Glenview resident Wes Owens, who was eligible to win a pre-loaded meal gift card, said he met Castro at a Mount Prospect First 100 Campout, and now they are such good friends she has even attended his daughter’s birthday party.
Owens, who has attended 10 First 100 Campouts though he wasn’t eligible to participate in all of them, said his favorite part is meeting people too.
“There’s a great community and a lot of nice people,” he said. “And of course you get a year of free chicken.”
– Original Credit:
Campers who made it until morning were woken at 5 a.m. for a bathroom break, before being led across a red carpet by the Chick-fil-A cow to receive their pre-loaded meal gift cards from franchise owner Rob Meier, according to a Chick-fil-A news release.
“I am excited to have an opportunity to serve the Niles community both inside and outside my restaurant,” said Meier, who previously owned and operated the State and Lake Chick-fil-A in downtown Chicago.
The Niles Chick-fil-A is open for business 6:30 a.m. – 10 p.m. Mon. – Sat. It is closed Sundays.
