Customers flock to support KFC manager


By Don Shilling

A fundraiser for an injured KFC manager drew crowds all day.

YOUNGSTOWN — Normally at KFC, the choice is “original” or “extra crispy.”

On Sunday, the KFC on South Avenue offered other options — a one-hour wait in the drive-through lane or a one-hour wait inside.

But no one complained.

The customers — hundreds of them throughout the day — were willing to do whatever it took to show support for Joe Kaluza. The 42-year-old store manager and father of two was paralyzed from the neck down last month when robbers staged a crash to steal the store’s bank deposit.

To raise money for the South Side man and his family, the local KFC franchisee donated all proceeds Sunday to a fund that’s been set up for his medical expenses.

Throughout the day, a line of customers snaked its way through the restaurant and sometimes spilled over to the sidewalk outside. Dozens of cars were lined up in the drive-through lane and down South Avenue.

“It’s overwhelming,” said Kaluza’s sister, Anna Fitzgerald of North Lima. “The people here really come together when something catastrophic happens.”

Lisa Kaluza, Joe’s wife, was at the restaurant earlier in the day but left to be with her husband in the afternoon.

“She had tears in her eyes the whole time she was here,” said Gloria Roy, who manages the Youngstown office of Morgan Foods, the local franchisee. “She was just hanging onto us and crying.”

Kathie Skinner drove from her home in East Palestine after reading about the fundraiser in The Vindicator. She had waited 45 minutes in the drive-through lane and hadn’t placed her order yet. But she didn’t mind.

It was sad, she said, that the robbers left Kaluza a quadriplegic in their effort to steal $300.

“Two idiots,” she said. “They wanted to make a quick buck the easy way.”

Taran D. Helms, 22, of West Hylda Avenue, and Hattie L. Gilbert, 20, of East Judson Avenue, are each charged with attempted aggravated murder and aggravated robbery.

Greg Snyder, 41, was surprised when he walked into the restaurant and saw people lined up to the door. He said he drove from Liberty and was willing to wait to show his support for Kaluza.

“This guy needs the money,” he said.

Before Sunday, $22,000 had been donated to a fund for Kaluza. Donations can be made at any Huntington Bank branch.

Roy said she didn’t know how much had been collected at midday Sunday but added that people weren’t just buying food.

They were donating up to $100 into collection canisters and some people were handing over their credit cards and asking that donations be rung up that way.

Roy said Morgan Foods, which is based in Cleveland and has 97 restaurants in six states, knew that Mahoning Valley residents would be out in full force to support Kaluza.

“This is exactly what we expected. The outpouring from this community has been amazing,” she said.

Plenty of chicken had been stocked at other stores in the area and was being brought in as needed.

Among the cookers was Jim Liguori, Morgan’s chief operating officer.

“Our cooks are frying as fast as they can,” Roy said.

Fitzgerald said her brother has remained upbeat even though he has been in a Cleveland hospital since the March 24 robbery.

He even asked a nurse for a walker even though he can’t use his arms or legs.

“He told his employer that he’ll be back,” she said.

shilling@vindy.com

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