DMV Restaurant Worker Relief Fund

UPDATE APRIL 2nd!! WE HAVE REACHED OUR GOAL!! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT. We will be moving our fundraising efforts to our local ROC DC platform. Please submit new donations here: rocunited.org/dc-fund

UPDATE MARCH 26th: Dear donors & applicants. Thank you all SO much for your generous donations. 
After much consideration for how to best move forward with dispersing these funds, we have decided to officially partner with the current efforts of the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (which is an active 501c3).  Therefore, no one individual will be held responsible/liable for the withdrawal or dispersement of the money raised in this fundraiser. ROC United has set up a similar fund and has the infrastructure and capacity to disperse the funds to individual workers through PayPal & Venmo, just the same as we had originally planned. All funds raised through this DMV Specific fundraiser will go solely towards restaurant workers in the DMV who have applied through our own application form (see below). We currently have 275 people who have applied. In partnering with ROC United, we will be able to give out larger sums to individuals and continue to accept more applications once we send $ to the current applicants.
.
To view and apply for the ROC United fund please go to the following link: www.rocunited.org/relief
.
FOR APPLICANTS: We apologize for the significant delay in getting funds to everyone. There were a lot of details and processes that we have had to go through on the GoFundMe platform that we were not originally aware of, and therefore this has delayed our ability to disperse funds. Starting today, we will be calling through to all 275 applicants to check-in and assess your current updated needs. 
.
Please note: Through this updated process, we will be offering extra funds to people who do not qualify for unemployment insurance, those who are caring for children or other loved ones during this time and those who have significantly urgent bills. Additionally, workers will now send us proof of employment in the restaurant industry to assure we are putting money in the pockets of affected restaurant workers. 
.
Additional Disclosure: The group of workers who started this fund are made up of staff and members of the local chapter of the Restaurant Opportunities Center, (ROC DC). We had originally started this fund before the shutdown of restaurants in DC because of the great need that we had anticipated from the affects of  COVID-19. This fund was created to support DMV restaurant workers in need of financial relief and was put together before the ROC United fund. 
.
Visit ROC DC on social media! www.facebook.com/rocdc, instagram: @dc_roc
.
.
.
UPDATE MARCH 18TH : THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!! Please read our most recent post with updates about this fundraiser! We have paused the incoming applications and in order to disperse funds to everyone who has applied, our new goal is $30k!
.
.
Restaurant workers are at the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis. Not only have so many of us been exposed to hundreds of people in the past few months of work, but now we are seeing the drastic cut in shifts, hours, the denial of paid sick leave,  full fledged layoffs and temporary restaurant closures. Restaurant workers often live pay check to paycheck and are not provided with benefits such as health insurance. Once restaurants start to close there is little cushion for workers to fall back upon. We know that many restaurants on their own will not go out of their way to pay workers for this loss of income, especially when it comes to restaurant closures, therefore we need to turn to each other for mutual aid and support with any resources we are able to share. We are the ones who have cooked for you, served you and cleaned up for you. Please consider giving back during this time of mass financial hardship. Any donation big or small will go a long way to support restaurant workers in the DMV.  HOW IT WILL WORK: Funds will be dispersed to workers after they fill out the form below. We will deposit funds directly to each person's Venmo, CashApp or Paypal Account.   Restaurant Workers: Please fill out the following form so we can distribute these donations to you! We can also share your venmo handle on social media for direct donations. Application form: https://forms.gle/cX89872puhqd9RhF8
Much love and solidarity to all. 
---------------------------
---------------------------
Los trabajadores de restaurantes están en la primera línea de la crisis de COVID-19. No solo muchos de nosotros hemos estado expuestos a cientos de personas en los últimos meses de trabajo, sino que ahora estamos viendo la reducción drástica en turnos, horas, la negación de enfermedad pagadas, despidos completos y cierres temporales de restaurantes. Los trabajadores de restaurantes a menudo viven con cheque de a cheque y no reciben beneficios como el seguro de salud. Una vez que los restaurantes comienzan a cerrar, hay poco margen para que los trabajadores se recuperen. Sabemos que muchos restaurantes por su cuenta no se esforzarán por pagar a los trabajadores por esta pérdida de ingresos, especialmente cuando se trata de cierres de restaurantes, por lo tanto, debemos recurrir entre nosotros para obtener ayuda y apoyo mutuos con los recursos que somos. capaz de compartir. Nosotros somos los que cocinamos, servimos y limpiamos para ti. Por favor considere apoyarnos durante este tiempo de dificultades financieras masivas. Cualquier donación grande o pequeña contribuirá en gran medida de a los trabajadores de restaurantes en el área del DMV. CÓMO FUNCIONARÁ: Los fondos se dispersarán según sea necesario después de que los trabajadores llenen el siguiente formulario para solicitar fondos. Una vez que se evalúe la necesidad, depositaremos fondos directamente en la cuenta Venmo, CashApp o Paypal de cada persona. Vamos a priorizar a las personas que no pueden ser elegibles o que no pueden solicitar asistencia por desempleo / gobierno y aquellas que necesitan fondos para cubrir gastos y medicamentos relacionados con los niños. Somos conscientes de que la legislación de emergencia en DC está agregando más asistencia al detener cualquier desalojo o cierre de servicios públicos en este momento de crisis. Tomaremos en cuenta la implementación final de esto antes de dispersar los fondos directamente para las facturas de servicios públicos y el alquiler. Trabajadores de restaurantes: ¡Complete el siguiente formulario para que podamos distribuirle estas donaciones! También podemos compartir su manejo de venmo en las redes sociales para donaciones directas. Formulario de solicitud en español : https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfP0HG2JYX402iq51sI0jX0t77xmobyD3Wc_L3c7EIysAsd9w/viewform?vc=0&c=0&w=1 Mucho amor y solidaridad para todos.