Hundreds of Triangle restaurant workers are missing a paycheck. Here’s a fund to help.
Hundreds of workers lost their jobs or had their hours cut Tuesday when the dining rooms and bars of Triangle restaurants were ordered closed indefinitely.
On Wednesday, Raleigh chef Ashley Christensen helped set up the Triangle Restaurant Workers Relief Fund, an effort to raise money for those missing their next paycheck.
The fund is set up for the cooks, servers, bartenders, dishwashers and other restaurant industry workers in the Triangle impacted by this week’s drastic cut to staffing. The fund is being hosted by the Frankie Lemmon School & Development Center, which Christensen has helped raise funds for in the past through events like the Triangle Wine Experience.
“I have had a long relationship with Frankie Lemmon School, and we knew that they would be the perfect partner in helping our community with immediate fundraising needs,” Christensen said in a release. “They added ‘Food’ to Triangle Wine and Food Experience [the foundation’s chief fundraising event] last year, and they meant it.”
On Tuesday, Gov. Roy Cooper ordered restaurants and bars in North Carolina to close to dine-in customers. Many restaurants have put together takeout and delivery operations, while many others have suspended service altogether. Virtually every restaurant has been forced to cut staffing in the effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
“We are so grateful to all of the chefs and restaurant workers who have supported the Frankie Lemmon mission over the years through fundraising and participation in Triangle Wine and Food Experience, and now is the time for us to return that support,” said Marsha Hargette, executive director of the Frankie Lemmon Foundation, in a release.
To contribute to the fund, visit frankielemmonschool.org/restaurantworkersrelieffund/.
This story was originally published March 18, 2020 at 5:16 PM.
