White Castle’s first foray into NFT art brought the brand to life in this innovative corner of the digital world and, at the same time, raised a significant sum for team members in need of financial support. A significant portion of White Castle’s net proceeds from the sale of the NFTs — $25,000 in total — went directly to White Castle’s Team Member Relief.

Dec. 17 marks the first anniversary of the campaign launch with Doodle Labs, which included the release of White Castle’s generative art NFT collection on the Ethereum blockchain. It celebrated White Castle’s 100th birthday with a series of 5,001 NFTs created by the acclaimed digital media artist Che-Yu Wu.

The White Castle Team Member Relief Fund, established by White Castle’s third-generation leader and then-CEO Bill Ingram following Superstorm Sandy in 2012, is an emergency support system designed to assist any team member who encounters an unexpected hardship. White Castle team members can apply for a relief grant of up to $1,500.

“One of our primary responsibilities as a family-owned business is to make sure we improve our community, and that starts with our team members,” says Erin Shannon, fourth-generation family member and corporate relations manager at White Castle. “At the heart of this innovative technical collaboration is making sure the soul of our company, the team members, know we have their back in their time of unanticipated need.”