Employees from the Chick-Fil-A restaurant in Grand Junction volunteered to complete outdoor cleaning and landscaping at the Willows, a care facility operated by Family Health West in Fruita.

Joe and Kim Walsh, owners of the Chick-Fil-A, have kept their 80 employees on payrolls while the restaurant under goes a nine-week remodeling project scheduled for completion in October, but asked them to volunteer. “Our team members are like our family, and it’s just the right thing to do,” Joe Walsh said. “We just ask they volunteer somewhere or for someone that has meaning for them, and boy have they been busy.”

At the Willows, the employees washed windows, pulled weeds and completed other cleaning and landscaping tasks.

John Kelley, director of the Family Health Foundation, said the effort helped residents at the facility who’ve been on lock down since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. “Giving our residents a clear view of the beauty that surrounds them not only helps them with the stress of being isolated, but helps with living with dementia and Alzheimer’s.”

“Until we can resume a normal staff workflow, volunteer opportunities like this have such a significant impact,” he added.