Restaurant chain gives Beaufort employee and his family new home after devastating fire
Christopher Smith works really hard.
His wife, Antoinette Jenkins, knows it.
His friends and family know it.
And the company where he’s worked for more than five years knows it.
So when a fire destroyed his Beaufort home in June, no one was surprised that he was back at work three days later.
“I may be homeless, but I’m not jobless,” he told The Island Packet recently. He said he needed to show his kids that “it’s important to keep going.”
The kids — De’Angelo, 11, Christopher Jr., 6, and Adriana, 2 — were thrust with their parents into a terrifying world in an instant: homelessness.
On June 24, the night of the fire, Smith was in the kitchen. Jenkins was trying to put little Adriana to bed. Christopher Jr. alerted his parents that the projector in his room, where De’Angelo was sleeping, was on fire.
They heard a pop, and all the lights went out.
“It happened so fast,” Smith said. “As a dad, you just want to make sure everyone gets out and gets safe.”
Everyone did. They even managed to save their pet turtles. Once outside, they watched the smoke and flames rise, enveloping their home until the fire department extinguished the blaze.
Much like the fire, the news spread quickly — including to leaders in the Wingstop company where Smith works. He’s worked at both the Beaufort and Bluffton stores, and most recently was promoted to general manager.
Soon after, executives with The Wingstop Foundation, which helps the company’s employees during times of crisis, reached out to Smith.
The foundation gave the family $5,000.
“It was awesome,” Jenkins said. “At first, the $5,000 to help us out was enough to get the kids clothes and start trying to find a place.”
But that check was just the beginning.
The foundation flew the family to Las Vegas so foundation donors could meet them.
Then during a nice banquet dinner, Smith was called onstage. He received a standing ovation.
“Chris, I have a surprise for you,” the foundation executive said. Smith’s eyebrows raised as the woman continued, “I’m so overwhelmed with joy, on behalf of all those generous sponsors that I mentioned, to present you and your family with a new home.”
Tears welled in Smith’s eyes onstage. Jenkins and the kids, sitting at the table, also fought tears.
Then, Wingstop’s CEO walked onstage, shook Smith’s hand and handed him a giant cut-out key with the company’s logo and a label: “Chris & Family.”
In that moment, Smith saw that people appreciated his work ethic, loyalty and dedication.
The new home was built on the same lot as the old one because the family was still paying the mortgage on the property despite losing the home on it. The couple liked the spot where they had started their first home, and remaining there allowed the kids to stay at their schools.
Days before Thanksgiving, the family got the keys to their new, fully furnished home.
Weeks later, Smith was still struggling to express his gratitude for what his company had done.
“It’s simply wonderful,” he said. “The home is pretty much a haven.”
He’s thankful for The Wingstop Foundation and the support, financial and emotional, his family received after their tragedy.
“The bounce back was more important than the fall.”
