Wendy’s gets no love from the #FairFoodNation on Valentine’s Day…

[hupso title=”.@Wendys gets no love from the #FairFoodNation on #VDay” url=”https://ciw-online.org/blog/2015/02/wendys-vday-report/”]

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Fair Food activists flood Wendy’s with broken-hearted selfies, calls to join the Fair Food Program!

Last month, the Alliance for Fair Food (AFF) launched a call for a national Valentine’s Day Weekend of Action, demanding that Wendy’s, the final fast-food hold-out, join the award-winning Fair Food Program.  And last weekend, hundreds of members of the exciting new Alliance took the call to action to heart.  From Denver to DC, regional Fair Food Committees broke out the art supplies and unleashed their boundless creativity to make their voices heard inside Wendy’s corporate headquarters once again.

The AFF did a wonderful job of compiling all the weekend’s action, and you can find their full report at the AFF website.  To get you started, however, we have excerpted some of the report’s highlights here below:

SOCIAL MEDIA BLITZ

On the social media front, hundreds of Fair Food allies submitted V-Day selfies, holding decorative and creative Fair Food messages to Wendy’s, bringing the urgent call for farmworker justice from the far reaches of the Fair Food Nation to Wendy’s virtual doorstep! 

 

ACTION ON THE GROUND

Denver… On Valentine’s Day, the Denver Fair Food crew rose bright and early to drop off dozens of handmade Valentines with not one, not two, but three different Wendy’s restaurants in the Denver suburb of Thornton!  Afterwards, Denver Fair Food finished the action by performing an original skit featuring their very own Fair Food tomato proposing to Wendy’s to join the Fair Food Program.

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Washington, DC… Like our friends in Denver, the DC Fair Food crew headed to Wendy’s for a morning letter delivery and theater performance.  The skit declared an end to their relationship with the fast food chain:  “Last year we asked you to join the Fair Food Program.  A year later, you still haven’t joined.  And today, we’re breaking up with you!” 

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Treasure Coast, FL… Meanwhile, down in Florida, Treasure Coast Fair Food packed the whole weekend with Fair Food activities!  First, during an inspired, two-day art workshop, TCFF created an interactive art feature, protest signs, and Valentines to Wendy’s and Publix!  On Valentine’s Day itself, they debuted their artwork at the One Billion Rising for Justice event in Stuart, FL, inviting the crowd to send selfies to Wendy’s on social media.  And the following evening, TC Fair Food hosted a discussion about the “Food Chains” documentary and the importance of the Fair Food Program at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Vero Beach, FL.

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Gainesville… The home of the Gators was certainly not going to be left out!  A Gainesville delegation of Interfaith Alliance for Immigrant Justice leaders, UF students, and local community members delivered a letter to the manager at the local Wendy’s, urging the hamburger giant to sit down with CIW and join the Fair Food Program.

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Dublin, OH… Even on the home front, Wendy’s heard from the Fair Food Nation.  In Dublin, The First Unitarian Universalists of Columbus visited Wendy’s Headquarters to deliver a Valentines card signed by over 100 children and adults in the congregation.  As always, Mr. Emil Brolick, Wendy’s CEO, was unavailable to receive the delegation.  With undampened spirits, the group left their Valentines for Mr. Brolick and vowed to return — as many times as it takes for Wendy’s to join the Fair Food Program.

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Walnut Creek, CA… Meanwhile, over on the West Coast, a delegation of 6th graders from the Beth Chaim Congregation paid a visit to the Walnut Creek Wendy’s to let the local manager know that this generation of young people would stand alongside farmworkers in demanding a just food system (and the manager was so impressed that he even agreed to pose in a photo with the delegation!).

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Brooklyn, NY… On the other coast, more middle schoolers from Kolot Chayeinu / Voices of Our Lives Congregation in Brooklyn busted out scissors, cardboard and markers for an art and music-filled class.  The students even strummed up a Fair Food tune for Wendy’s, asking the multi-billion dollar corporation to shell out just one penny more per pound and support human rights for farmworkers! 

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And for now, that’s a wrap!  If you want even more photos, check out the Alliance for Fair Food’s full report from the weekend as well as the Facebook album.  It was a triumphant (and fun) weekend for the Fair Food Nation, but it was also only the beginning.  Wendy’s — and Publix — can expect to keep feeling the heat as we ramp up for the 2015 Concert & Parade for Fair Food!