Andrew Gruel, owner of the Slapfish restaurant chain, and his wife, Lauren Gruel, launched the Help Struggling Restaurant Workers fundraiser in December, noting that restaurants were in an “economic free fall” because of pandemic-related shutdowns.
Since then, the fund has raised more than $350,000 on the GoFundMe platform, helping struggling restaurant industry workers with donations of $300 to $600, as well as larger donations so restaurants can help all of their workers.
“We started helping people out of our own pocket but there’s only so much money a person can give,” Andrew Gruel said. “That’s why we thought we’d raise $5,000 to try and help out.”
California-based Slapfish had also been giving out meals to all first responders, as well as free meals to kids.
Like the Gruels, many of the operators in Restaurant Business’ 2020 Power 20 list were active in community outreach prior to the pandemic, but when COVID hit, they amplified their efforts. What’s more, many are now making giving back and doing good part of their business plans going forward.
When Sam Polk launched Everytable in 2016, his mission was to set up storefronts in underserved neighborhoods or “food deserts,” selling fresh, healthy grab-and-go meals at fast-food prices. There are now five locations in the Los Angeles area, but the pandemic brought the issues of food injustice to a much wider audience.
“Senior citizens were confined to their homes without access to food,” Polk said. “The majority are low-income and can’t afford services like Instacart.”
To get food to the housebound elderly, Everytable staff started preparing meals in its South LA commissary, using its fleet of delivery vehicles to transport them. The outreach soon ramped up to 10 meals a week to 14,000 low-income seniors—a program that is still going strong, Polk said.
Also in the works during 2020 was Polk’s initiative to get a social-equity franchise off the ground, operated by a low-income entrepreneur of color. “When I looked into franchising, I saw that the model was built around people who accumulated capital. I wanted to help talented entrepreneurs start a business.”
With financial support from several nonprofit foundations, Polk awarded the first franchise to a mother of three in January of this year. Through Everytable University, the training arm of the program, she was ready to operate the storefront by the end of February. The franchisee receives an annual salary of $40,000 for three years and access to capital.
Polk plans to expand the social-equity franchise program to 40 minority entrepreneurs over the next two years, first in Los Angeles and then in New York City.
New Orleans knows how to band together in times of adversity, so on March 15, Amanda Toups, partner in Toups Meatery with her husband Isaac, immediately sprang into action.
“Living through Hurricane Katrina, I knew the government would not come in to save us,” she said. She mobilized her team, fellow restaurateurs and vendors to feed the hungry and the jobless. The Toups Meatery kitchen started offering family meal, not just to its staff, but to all service industry employees and others who were in need until unemployment kicked in.
“Women were affected the most by the pandemic,” said Toups. “Hairdressers, waitresses and those in similar positions were forced out of the workforce and had children to feed. Some mothers were one week away from having no food in the house.”
The dinners also went to workers in the ICU units. The kitchen was soon turning out up to 4,000 meals a day.
The efforts came to the attention of a former New Orleans Saints player who convinced the couple to set up a Venmo account to get funding. That same day, he made a generous donation that allowed them to bring back and pay their line cooks, sous chef and even the dishwasher, said Toups.
In the year since, the Toups knew they had to redo their business model. “Charity was always a part of our business, but we realized we could no longer do charity in passing—it now had to be written into our business plan,” she said. “We will do family meal for the community forever.”
Edward Lee, chef-owner of 610 Magnolia and several other restaurants in Louisville, Ky., launched the Lee Initiative several years ago, as a way to promote equity and diversity in the industry through job creation. Since then, the nonprofit has branched out into programs that support racial justice, female mentorship, training and more.
“We had a nonprofit when the pandemic hit, so I said, ‘Let’s do what we do best—feed people,’” Lee said. “We were able to pivot in 24 hours, turning my restaurant into a relief kitchen.”
There was an immediate outpouring of support, with bourbon producer Maker’s Mark offering seed money to expand nationwide. “In a little over three weeks, we had 21 relief kitchens across the country.” The kitchens not only fed people, they kept industry folks employed.
Soon after, Lee started the Reboot program to save small, independent farms—a group that “doesn’t have a voice or a platform.” In the past year, the Lee Initiative has funded five farms and five restaurants in each of eight cities.
Lee’s own restaurants are just making payroll right now. But the pandemic has changed the way he looks at the business and looks at success. “Regardless of what happens with the pandemic, hunger will be an issue for years to come,” Lee said.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a Restaurant Business member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.