Within hours of hearing about tornadoes touching down in Adairsville, Georgia, Krystal leaders were hard at work on a plan to deploy the Krystal Cruiser to provide food to first responders. 

After learning about the devastation to one of the communities it serves, the team quickly made provisions to have Krystals, fries, and bottled water available for first responders who would be busy for days with initial clean up efforts.

Once the team received permission from local government to set up, the Cruiser quickly headed south and was in place and ready for business within 40 minutes. The Cruiser was manned with local Krystal employees, who were eager to feed those who were doing so much in the first hours of cleanup.

Over a period of 26hours, the Cruiser served 4,608 Krystals, 900 orders of fries, and 240 bottles of water to the workers. 

Workers also provided 18 gallons of hot coffee to responders. The Cruiser stayed in Adairsville until the power was back on and the main roads cleared of debris. 

This isn’t the first time the Cruiser has been called into emergency service. Last summer, the Cruiser spent several days on the Gulf Coast to provide support to first responders involved with hurricane cleanup efforts.

“The Cruiser is often used for special events around the region,” says Brian Blosser, vice president of development and construction. “But we quickly learned that there’s another very important mission for the Cruiser and whenever we can, our team will be in place to provide a hot meal to first responders who are caring for our customers.”

Krystal president and CEO Doug Pendergast says, “This is a great use of the Krystal Crave Cruiser and one that we are very honored to provide to our customers. They’ve supported us for the last 80 years, and we are committed to supporting them in difficult times whenever we possibly can. We are grateful to be able to provide a hot meal to those who are doing so much to help with initial clean up efforts.”