Chick-fil-A is more than their chicken sandwiches, chicken nuggets, and waffle fries. The Atlanta-based fast-food chain is always giving back to the community in a variety of ways; including bringing over 500 chicken sandwiches to an evacuation shelter from Hurricane Florence and awarding their team members over $14 million in high education scholarships. So it comes as no surprise that one local Chick-fil-A would step up and celebrate one of their regular customers.
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Meet Stephen Bellissimo, a frequent customer at the Oldsmar, Florida location for the past twenty years. The team members have grown to know him (calling him Mr.Steve) and gave him 50% off and free coffee while he sat in the same booth on a daily basis. To show their appreciation, and when they figured out when his birthday was, the crew at Chick-fil-A decided to throw him a 100th birthday party to celebrate.
The Fox 13 News Tampa news team was there to capture it all at the Florida Chick-fil-A.
100-year-old Mr. Steve walked into the surprise birthday party and was immediately blown away at the decoration and the great surprise of seeing all the Chick-fil-A staff celebrating his special birthday. The staff showed him to his booth which was decorated with balloons, a cake and a large check on the wall which pronounced that the Florida man would receive free food from Chick-fil-A for the rest of his life.
Mr. Steve burst into a big smile, announcing that it was the "best gift [he] could ever receive," and that he plans to visit Chick-fil-A every single day. Up until a few months ago, he had been a daily visitor to the fast food restaurant. After a fall he moved in with his son who brings him once a week to visit and order his favorite chicken meals. Now the birthday boy might be coming in more than weekly to enjoy his free food for life.
