White Castle has been delivering complimentary Sliders to Kroger employees in Columbus, Cincinnati, Detroit and Louisville as a way to thank them for their service during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Known as America’s first fast-food hamburger chain, White Castle expects to provide 1,500 Sliders through the food drops, which began in mid-May and will continue throughout July.

“Grocery store and retail food workers have been working throughout the pandemic, making their commitment to providing food options for their neighbors and friends their top priority,” says Jamie Richardson, vice president at White Castle. “As a family owned business, White Castle has always believed in the importance of supporting our communities, so we’re proud and humbled to offer our thanks with a bit of nourishment for these dedicated front-line workers.”

The Kroger food drops are an extension of White Castle’s larger initiative the past few months to support essential and front-line workers. Between mid-March and mid-July, White Castle has given away more than $1 million worth of free meals and delivered more than 12,700 complimentary Sliders to healthcare workers and first responders in the 14 markets where it has restaurants. In addition, it has provided significant discounts to all front-line workers and has given over 3,300 Sliders to grocery store and other retail food workers. In the past couple of weeks, for example, White Castle brought Sliders to employees at three Walgreens stores in the Chicago area.

Kroger and White Castle have been long-time retail partners, with Kroger selling White Castle’s Sliders in its freezer aisles for more than 30 years. Kroger officials said they appreciate White Castle’s support of its workers.

“We are so thankful to businesses like White Castle for their generosity to our store teams,” adds Erin Grant, corporate affairs and media relations manager. “It is uplifting to see so much community support as we all manage through these incredible times.”