After her husband’s death two months ago, Marilyn Perry asked well wishers to contribute to her church’s building fund in lieu of flowers.
She expected perhaps a few hundred dollars. Instead, the church received more than $1 million.
“I was absolutely shocked,” said Perry, whose husband, Don, died unexpectedly of a heart attack in July at age 60. “I never envisioned that type of contribution but it shouldn’t have surprised me because I know what God can do.”
The hefty donation came from employees, the company and members of the founding family of Chick-fil-A, the Atlanta-based fast-food chain where her husband worked for nearly three decades in public relations, most recently as vice president of corporate public relations.
“We’re overjoyed at the generosity,” said Senior Minister Richard Barclay of Hillcrest Church of Christ in Decatur, which recently celebrated its 65th anniversary. “Of course, we’d much rather have Don, but it speaks volumes about the life that he lived.”
Don Perry, a father of three, served as an elder in the church where he had worshipped for 19 years. He died in the midst of a major crisis for the popular restaurant chain. Chick-fil-A came under fire after President Dan Cathy spoke out against gay marriage.
The donation gives Hillcrest, which has about 700 active members, a significant boost in reaching its $2 million goal to build a larger sanctuary, classrooms and administrative offices. The project, which is already underway, is projected to cost $5.2 million by end of construction in 2013.
Initially, an anonymous donor from Chick-fil-A made a $250,000 contribution through the National Christian Foundation, which is described on its website as the “largest Christian grant-making foundation in the world.”
But that wasn’t the end.
The church, which is nondenominational, wanted to give a proper thank you to Chick-fil-A, so Barclay invited members of the Cathy family to a special appreciation service on Sept. 9. Donald “Bubba” Cathy, a son of founder S. Truett Cathy and senior vice president of Chick-fil-A, whispered to Barclay that morning that they wanted to do more.
During the service, Cathy and his wife said an additional amount of $750,000 was being donated, including $250,000 from his father, $250,000 from employees and $250,000 from the Chick-fil-A company. Since then, more money has been donated.
‘We’ve been blessed,” said Gregory Smothers, an elder in the church who is working on the building project.
In addition to the Chick-fil-A contribution, Perry’s other friends and family donated about $15,000 to the fund.
Perry was well loved at the company. Shortly after his death, Chick-fil-A took out a full page ad in memorial in several publications, including The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“He didn’t talk about his church but we knew what he stood for and knew what he was about,” said Chick-fil-A Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Steve Robinson. “We knew he was active in the building program. I think a lot of people decided we want to celebrate Don by helping that church.”
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