During the month of April, Chick-fil-A locations in Las Cruces and El Paso participated in a fundraiser to benefit students at New Mexico State University, pledging to donate a portion of proceeds from sales of the fast-food chain’s chocolate chunk cookies.

Over 30 days, the locations – including the two stand-alone restaurants on East University Avenue and East Lohman Avenue in Las Cruces – sold approximately 26,000 cookies.

On Wednesday, July 21, Matt Carper, who owns and operates the two participating Las Cruces locations, presented at check for $6,107.80 to Derek Dictson, president of the NMSU Foundation, for the NMSU Student Emergency Fund. 

The fund provides vital assistance for students experiencing hardship, especially in times of crisis. Every donation to the fund provides crucial financial relief for students, helping them maintain critical resources such as utilities, food, housing and the necessary technology to successfully complete the schoolyear.

“Chick-fil-A’s generous gift to the NMSU Student Emergency Fund will ensure that our hard-working Aggies can get back to the classroom and remain focused on pursuing their academic goals,” Dictson said. “We are grateful to Chick-fil-A for investing in education and helping our students overcome a challenging year.”

Carper wanted to help NMSU, he said, because many of his employees are college students who struggled financially over the past year. 

“Within my restaurant, and within many of the other restaurants in the El Paso/Las Cruces area, we saw the way the COVID-19 pandemic affected our workers who were college students,” he said. “Some of the students became the sole providers for their families and, due to that struggle, were unable to continue their education.”

Mathew Madrid, president of the Associated Students of NMSU, attended the check presentation and thanked Carper for his support. 

“Our community is at our best when we all work together to lift each other up,” Madrid said. “Having this kind of support and knowing these funds will be able to assist students in need is precisely why so many Aggies are proud to call Las Cruces home.”

For more information on the NMSU Student Emergency Fund, or to donate to the fund, visit https://advancing.nmsu.edu/givenow or call 575-646-1613.