Restaurant and hotel workers in North Carolina can apply for $500 in immediate financial help from a relief fund set up by the North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association (NCRLA).
“Within a matter of days, we have seen the majority of workers in the hospitality industry laid off, furloughed or completely sidelined,” Steve Thanhauser, chairman of the NCRLA and co-owner of Raleigh’s landmark Angus Barn Steakhouse, said in a statement. “It’s our duty to show them how much we value their work and well-being by doing what we can to help them out.”
The association said it has already received 7,000 applications from workers whose incomes were cut by the COVID-19 pandemic. Relief funds will be drawn from a pool of donations that already total $275,000, the NCRLA said.
Beneficiaries will be chosen on the basis of need, as verified by employers, and longevity in the business, the NCRLA says. More information on the N.C. Restaurant Workers Relief Fund is available here.
The program is being administered by the association’s charitable affiliate, the NCRLA Foundation.
The program echoes the one launched last week on a national basis by the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation. It, too, is offering $500 to approved applicants, but on a first come, first served basis. More information is available here.
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