The celebrity chef has long been a big backer of local and independent restaurants, thanks to his Food Network show “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.” In 2020, Fieri took that support a step further to help the millions of restaurant workers who lost jobs in the pandemic.
Fieri partnered with the National Restaurant Association on the Restaurant Employee Relief Fund, or RERF, which received help from more than 50 companies and organizations and more than 15,000 donors. RERF raised more than $21.5 million to provide one-time $500 grants to restaurant workers in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.