Franchisee Gives Comfort Food to Those In Need

Which Wich franchisee Grant Alexander has found ways to use his businesses to give back.

Alexander owns six Which Wich restaurants in the greater Charlotte area – his most recent location on Rivergate View Drive in Charlotte.

“When I opened (my first) Which Wich in 2010, that is just something I wanted to do from the get-go,” he said. “I wanted to build relationships in the community and be an investor in the community.”

His Which Which restaurants have hosted charity events and community events such as spirit nights for schools and gave special pricing to community groups, but Alexander said they have expanded on those efforts.

In January, the restaurant chain launched Project PB&J in its 311 stores.

The project is modeled like Tom’s shoes, where a customer buys a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and the restaurant donates another sandwich to those in need. Each month, stores will deliver sandwiches to area organizations. Alexander said they recently partnered with the Alexander Youth Network, a nonprofit corporation that provides quality professional treatment to children with serious emotional and behavioral problems, to deliver sandwiches to their organization.

“We empower our franchisees to partner with area organizations,” said Hala Habal, Which Wich director of communications. “We want it to mean something to people in those communities.”

Another component of the project is the restaurant chain also puts a sandwich into the “Which Wich bank” to support a global effort, such as disaster relief. Which Wich has donated 11,000 PB&Js since the program’s inception. Which Wich Founder Jeff Sinelli hopes to give away one million sandwiches in 2015.