Wallingford Chick-fil-A Employee Wins $25K Scholarship

WALLINGFORD, CT — An employee at the Wallingford Chick-fil-A was one of 12 students nationwide who were recently awarded $25,000 scholarships from the company.

John Shepherd of Southbury, a student at Quinnipiac University, was surprised with the money during a visit to the company's Support Center in Atlanta, Georgia on March 18, according to Chick-fil-A's website.

Shepherd is studying criminal justice and sociology at Quinnipiac, and will graduate next year. The website says he's the first in his family to attend college.

"His can-do attitude helped Chick-fil-A Wallingford get through unprecedented employee turnover despite a historic sales increase," the website reads. "(Wallingford) Operator Todd Langston says Truett Cathy initiated this scholarship program for individuals like John who embody servant leadership."

Shepherd told the Quinnipiac Chronicle, which first reported the story, that he was surprised and didn't expect to win the award.

He also told the newspaper that the Wallingford Chick-fil-A had 22 other scholarship winners this year, all of whom won $2,500.