Virginia Chick-fil-A offering free food in exchange for coins amid shortage

A Virginia Chick-fil-A is offering free food in exchange for coins amid the national shortage, the store announced Saturday.

A Chick-fil-A in Lynchburg, Va., will provide coupons for a free entree for every $10 in rolled coins that guests provide, in addition to the same value in cash, according to the store’s Facebook post. Each guest is limited to 10 coupons maximum. 

The store will allow customers to exchange the coins on Wednesday between 9 and 11 a.m. at a “Limited time offer until need is met.”

In a comment under the original post, the Lynchburg location said it has seen “overwhelming response,” and it expects to be “doing this again.”

The Chick-fil-A promotion comes as the country is undergoing a coin shortage after coronavirus lockdowns effectively eliminated the number of people going to stores and paying in cash. 

“Due to the decrease in coin circulation nationwide, some restaurants may choose to offer incentives like this one to ensure they maintain enough coins to provide guests proper change, should they choose to pay with cash,” Chick-fil-A told The Hill in a statement. “This is not a national promotion, as Chick-fil-A restaurants are individually owned and operated.”

Other stores have required customers to pay with exact change or through other forms of payments due to the lack of coins available. Convenience store Wawa and grocery chain Giant announced earlier this month that those paying with cash had to do so with exact change.

The Federal Reserve imposed a rationing order last month, limiting the amount of coins given to regional banks.

“With the partial closure of the economy, the flow of funds through the economy has stopped,” Fed Chairman Jerome Powell had said. “We are working with the Mint and the Reserve Banks and as the economy reopens we are starting to see money move around again.”

—Updated at 5:06 p.m.