Our founder, Lowell Hawthorne, firmly believed in social responsibility and often stated, “It is our duty to ensure the people of our community are physically, spiritually, and socially nourished.” We continue to witness with our own eyes social injustice, systemic racism, and police brutality, which all contradict the principles that we believe in. This institutional oppression has enabled others to devalue black lives.

All Golden Krust stakeholders have experienced racism throughout their lives. Our society at all levels needs to address this injustice head on. At Golden Krust, we are developing enterprisewide initiatives to effect the needed profound change Lowell called for and society demands.

Golden Krust is 100% black-owned and founded by immigrants. Despite the odds being stacked against them, together with our franchisees, we proved if given REAL opportunity, good things – including economic, employment, and entrepreneurial opportunities – can happen.

The most recent injustices in our country are creating what we hope is a moment in time to effect real and permanent change. The Golden Krust family has always played its role in supporting the black community through volunteer efforts, community service, and mentorship programs. For example, Golden Krust has provided over 250 scholarships for minorities to pursue higher education, by way of the Mavis and Ephraim Hawthorne Golden Krust Foundation.

We intend to expand our support in several areas in order to be a leader, an active participant, and part of the solution to address the systemic issues we continue to face in our country.

Golden Krust will:
• Endow scholarship programs through its foundations to educate more of our youth with respect to social injustice to be part of the solution for the next generation
• Provide matching contributions to these scholarship programs
• Partner with relevant nonprofit organizations with a proven track record to create positive change in the areas of social justice, education and economic development for minorities
• Develop a volunteer program for all Golden Krust corporate employees to actively participate in this cause and provide paid time to do so
• Partner with organizations that will train young adults in disadvantaged communities by providing intern and permanent career positions in order to realize one’s full potential
• Deliver ongoing training programs for the entire Golden Krust system to educate and sensitize for unconscious bias
• Incorporate discussions during our periodic townhall meetings on how we can continue to cause positive change in the communities Golden Krust operates, ensuring our commitment is sustained for as long as needed plus another generation to guarantee it endures
• Create messaging for our Golden Krust Caribbean Restaurants (i.e., menu boards, individual social media channels, etc.) and our online presence staking our position and activism to systemic inequalities

We believe these and additional actions on a sustained basis are required to be part of the permanent solution that is needed.

The time for change is now.