With restaurants and bars being ordered closed in major cities across the U.S. in effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus, the restaurant industry is being hit hard. Its workforce is being hit even harder.
Atlanta became the latest city to close bars and limit restaurants to takeout and delivery. With some establishments already voluntarily closed, current and former Atlanta residents and politicians are rallying around the city’s food service workers.
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After reading posts from several friends asking for financial assistance because they were out of work, Adam Darby used his information technology (IT) expertise to create Relief Atlanta, reported Eater Atlanta.
The searchable database lists over 40 bars and restaurants as well as links to donation pages. Darby, who was a resident of Atlanta for 20 years before moving to Nairobi, used to work as a DJ on the side at many of Atlanta’s eateries. He said he felt obligated to assist.
“I had the thought that there are people out there that don’t know how or where to donate to their favorite restaurants’ employees, so I threw the site together. … I know so many of these restaurant owners and workers, that I HAD to do something to help out,” Darby said.
There are also GoFundMe pages popping up to assist Atlanta’s food service workers during this time.
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After popular restaurant The EARL closed until further notice, musicians Tyler Kinney and Joshua Feigert started a campaign to help its employees, the Atlanta Journal Constitution (AJC) reported. At time of publication Friday, the campaign had raised $12,749 of its $20,000 goal.
“We have numerous employees that live paycheck to paycheck and in an industry with already slim margins, the effects of shutting down due to Corona virus will be devastating to these employees. If you can give us any assistance we would be extremely grateful in efforts to keep us afloat while we live in uncertainty. Funds will be evenly dispersed to back and front of house in support of lost wages,” the campaign states.
Rachel Stuart also started a GoFundMe campaign for employees at 529, while Root Kitchens founder and director Julia Skinner created a spreadsheet to track Atlanta establishments that are offering pick-up and delivery, gifts cards, etc.
Georgia State Representative Bee Nguyen is a former restaurant employee who is also working to help Atlanta’s restaurant industry through this pandemic.
Before Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms signed and order allowing restaurants to offer “to-go beer and wine package sales” without needing a separate license if they were already licensed to sell alcohol, Nguyen sent Bottoms a letter suggesting the move as well as a variety of other relief provisions.
“Thank you for supporting our restaurants & bars during this crisis, Mayor @KeishaBottoms! Y’all can now get alcohol to-go along with your curbside pick-ups! This will help our restaurants generate much needed revenue,” Nguyen tweeted Friday morning.
