- April 18, 2024
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For Vietnam War veteran Jerry Sult, staying in retirement wasn’t an option.
After all, the 64-year-old Palm Coast resident helps support his wife, daughter and 2-year-old granddaughter, all of whom live with him.
Sult has been working at the Wendy’s on State Road 100 since it opened in 2011, and before that he worked a different Wendy’s for four years. After serving in the U.S. Air Force, he worked with Ford Motor Company for 13 years and retired. But he said he couldn’t stay retired for long because of “financial and fun reasons.”
“If you’re going to have fun, make money doing it,” Sult said.
For eight hours a day, four days a week, Sult dons a polo, gold name tag and stripped apron while he takes orders, greet guests and cleans the dining room. It’s always in tiptop shape, as he said the military groomed him to take pride in cleanliness and order.
Sult suffered a minor heart attack five months ago, so he had to cut back from working five days a week. Still, he persists on, always with a smile on his face.
He said he’ll be working “till the wagon comes to get me.”
His wife, Sandra, works at Winn-Dixie to help support them as well.
Jerry Sult isn’t the only local in retirement age who needs to work to make ends meet.
Data from Christine Sikora, Vice President of Innovative Workforce Solutions with CareerSource Flagler Volusia, shows that so far in 2017, there are 98 fast food/counter workers age 55-64 and 46 workers who are age 65 and older. In addition, there are 43 waiters and waitresses age 55-64 and 16 who are age 65 and older.
Robert MacDonald is among the 46 fast food workers over age 65 in Flagler County. As a 66-year-old Palm Coast resident, MacDonald started working at McDonald’s located at 5190 East Highway 100 in October 2016.
“I couldn’t sit home,” he said. “I don’t have any hobbies. I’m not handy in any way. I wanted to still get out and make a difference in the workforce.”
MacDonald retired from the U.S. Postal Service in 2009, then worked as a crossing guard and many other jobs before ending up at McDonald’s in a bright red vest, which he’s now known for. As a customer service employee, he said he enjoys interacting with guests and helping them with the kiosks in the dining room.
“People associate me with customer care because my job is to make sure that every guest that leaves has had a good experience,” MacDonald said.
He works five days a week for a total of 38 hours and loves every minute of it.
Just like Sult, MacDonald can’t picture retiring, he said: “till I’m dead. I don’t have any intentions of retiring. I’m not going to sit at home all day and watch television.”
Charles Silano, the Grace Tabernacle Ministries pastor, said about 65% of the people who come to Grace Community Food Pantry, which is run by the church, are in retirement age and are struggling in one way or another.
“I wanted to still get out and make a difference in the workforce.”
ROBERT MACDONALD, McDonald’s employee
“It’s not like they are completely broke to where they can’t go to the store and get a bag of rice or some cheap pasta, but that’s all that they can afford,” Silano said. “So, what we’re doing here is helping them keep a good complete diet.”
Silano said the inflation in food prices, especially meat, is not being met by social security checks.
“This is not a place where there are a lot of part time jobs for elderly people,” he said. “They’re not able to stock shelves as well as a younger person. They might be a good greeter, they might be able to work a cashier, but how many cash registers do you have? At fast food restaurants even, you have to be quick on your feet.”
While Jerry Sult and Robert MacDonald are pushing through their older age in the fast food business, the reality is that not everyone can. Silano said this leads them to the food pantry to get basic needs.
“I don’t see any end in sight,” Silano said. “I don’t see that beef prices are going to settle. I don’t see that social security is going to give them an extra $500 a month.”
“If you’re going to have fun, make money doing it.”
JERRY SULT, Wendy’s employee
Despite this, Silano always tries to encourage positivity to the food pantry visitors. He said the three pantry locations see about 3,300 to 3,400 visitations each month.
“It’s like one big family,” he said. “We know a lot of them on a first-name basis. They’ve been coming for years. We’re just blessed to be able to operate out of here like this.”
For Jerry Sult, the people he interacts with at Wendy’s feel like family as well.
“A lot of people come here and tell me that, of course, they come here to eat, but they come here to see me too,” Sult said. “That makes me feel good.”
For more information about the Grace Community Food Pantry, visit gracecommunityfoodpantry.com.
