Emergency Relief Fund for Restaurant Workers

Emergency Relief For Restaurant Workers

Our beloved seacoast is home to the second-highest amount of restaurants per capita in the US, right behind San Francisco. Our restaurant workers are the very heart and soul driving our Seacoast economy. Many of us live paycheck to paycheck as it is. Affordable housing is nearly non-existent as is affordable healthcare and paid sick leave. These are all contributing problems, and not issues we seek to solve here at this time. 

This fund is for emergency relief of as many restaurant workers as this fund will allow us to cover. The more you donate, the more people we can buffer from the widespread loss of income..

This fund will cover restaurant workers who either live or work in these towns (for independently owned and non-franchised restaurants).

Dover
Newington
Portsmouth
Rye
Hampton
Greenland
Newmarket
Kittery

Our community is amazing and inherently gifted at working together. Our workers are in real danger of going hungry. So we will do what this community does best. We will gather our passion and resources, and we will build a longer table. No one goes hungry in our house.


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If you are a restaurant worker with backup means of support, please give to help your friends who have lesser resources.

If you are a restaurant owner, we know how thin the profit margin is, but if you have any wiggle room please give what you can.

If you are a patron who enjoys dining out, perhaps has a favorite spot, or a favorite server, please give for them.

If you are a parent or sibling or friend of a restaurant worker. You are more acutely aware of our industry’s needs. Please give for them. 

Or even if you are only an acquaintance, perhaps you have some affection for those of us who have chosen a different path, who were never cut out for corporate life. That corporate life would have given us better security now to be sure, but an honest day’s work is good work. Blue-collar work is integral to the fabric of our shared society. 

And lastly, many of us are artists or writers or musicians too. Restaurant hours and flexibility have allowed us to create more beautiful things in this world. Please give to support the creatives among us who make the world a little brighter.

We will get through this. Restaurant workers are uniquely adapted to thrive under stress. Now is our time to shine. We will meet this challenge. We will build stronger bonds. We believe in our collective compassion. Take care of yourself and watch out for each other.


All in All in,
The Guild



::If You Are a Seacoast Worker::

Employed or unemployed and are in need of financial assistance for food, housing, medical bills, child care, sick leave not covered by employer, therapy, or access to drug or alcohol rehabilitation services, please reach out to us.

All information is kept confidential.
 


:: Who We Are::

The Restaurant Workers Relief Fund is currently run by local restaurant workers, with the working title of
::The Industry Guild::
Jocelyn Toffic, Ariel Oxaal, Nell Henderson-Brown, and Hillary Schmidle.
If you are interested in volunteering to help us process applications please email us at [email redacted]

 
::Other Notes::

We strongly encourage all restaurant employees to file for unemployment.
Even those that may not think they are in critical need. Your taxes and your hard work have paid into this safety net. We wish to diminish the stigma of accepting help. Your willingness to accept help may inspire others less fortunate who are also feeling reluctant to ask for help.
 

If you are a food provider/purveyor, restaurant, farm, etc, that may suddenly have an abundance of food that may need to be donated, we would like to hear from you as well [email redacted]
 

If you belong to a non-restaurant industry  that has been dramatically impacted or are a restaurant worker outside our defined area and would like to ask us questions on how we are running this, please reach out at [email redacted]

If you would like to donate a large sum or set up a matching donation promotion, please email us at [email redacted]