Hospitality leaders see overwhelming response for NC Restaurant Workers Relief Fund
WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) - Organizers of the NC Restaurant Workers Relief Fund say they’ve received more than 15,000 grant applications for help.
Restaurants and bars across the state were ordered to close dining services on Tuesday, March 17, under the governor’s order to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
One of those businesses was Wilmington’s Smoke on the Water.
“Its incredibly difficult to let almost 30 employees know they will be laid off and we didn’t have a time frame as to when we will open up," said general manager Lara Bair.
The manager says she’s been in contact with her employees every day since, working to help them apply for unemployment, food stamps and grants. She’s even started a Go-Fund-Me for the workers at Smoke on the Water.
“Its my work family. I still feel responsible for helping take care of them even though were not here working and interacting every day,” Bair added.
While some businesses were able to adapt and offer takeout services, many made the call to close down, leaving their employees without a source of income. Nearly 13 percent of the state’s workforce is made up of hospitality workers, according to the NC Restaurant Workers Relief Fund.
"I’m just trying to think outside the box in ways to help my employees as much as I can, especially the tipped workers, the servers.... they’re different from those of us who work week to week, paycheck to paycheck. They’re functioning day to day on their tips and its not a set amount. Their base pay is $2.13 an hour, so to suddenly go from that to no money, no last paycheck coming in... its extremely difficult,” Bair said.
The CEO and president of the group in charge of the relief fund says they’re working hard to do what they can for the state’s 350,000 workers who have been laid off.
“We have been faced with unprecedented challenges. Our businesses need help in a way they’ve never needed it before, our workers need help in a way they’ve never needed it before we are working around the clock to meet personal needs, business needs, meet with policy makers about the specific needs of the workers right now we will take all the help we can get. Were an industry in trouble,” said Lynn Minges, President and CEO of the NC Restaurant and Lodging Association.
Under the relief fund, cooks, servers, dishwashers and bartenders would be eligible to receive a $500 grant. The money will help them buy groceries and pay bills while hospitality workers wait for unemployment checks to come in.
“Their rent, their mortgage, their car payments are based on the lifestyle this industry affords them so when that stopped abruptly, people found themselves in significant hardship. They’re not able to make their mortgage payments, their utility payments they’re finding their cell phones cut off, but more importantly, more concerning is the fact that they cant go to the grocery store and buy food to feed their families,” Minges said. “Our way of life is being threatened in a way that we never would have imagined even a few weeks ago.”
Due to the enormous response, they are not accepting additional applications at this time, but ask that people who still need help visit the National Restaurant Association Foundation’s website for information on the national relief drive that launches Thursday.
Copyright 2020 WECT. All rights reserved.
