COLORADO SPRINGS — Rally for Restaurants, an initiative created to pay local restaurants to feed displaced restaurant employees, is continuing to provide meals and is also gaining more support.
The campaign, organized by Springs Native with the endorsement and support of the Pikes Peak Chapter of the Colorado Restaurant Association and the Colorado Springs Bartenders Guild, was made possible due to a massive grant awarded by the Pikes Peak United Way.
"We applied for a grant through the Community Impact Fund through United Way for $50,000 that would allow us to service about 44 restaurants and 3,300 meals over the course of 12 weeks," commented Laura Neumann, chair of the board for the Pikes Peak United Way.
According to Meagan Thomas, founder and owner of Springs Native, it is incredibly important to work towards helping the local organizations that are so much a part of daily life in the Pikes Peak region.
"If we want to continue to have anything local, any locally owned restaurants or businesses," stated Meagan, "this is a way that we can keep them going."
Following the initial funding from Pikes Peak United Way, nearly $14,000 in donations have been given to the program. Currently Rally for Restaurants plans to extend their support to 60 restaurants, providing nearly 4,500 meals and run through the beginning of March.
According to a December release from Springs Native, the program will allow select restaurants to provide 300 meals per week to restaurant workers in need.
The initiative will support the hospitality industry through meals and camaraderie. Twice a week, two restaurants will serve 75 meals each, for a total of 300 meals per week. Each restaurant will be paid for the meals they serve at a rate of $15 per meal, which will help the restaurants make extra money while feeding displaced restaurant workers and their immediate family members.
Individuals or organizations wishing to donate to the cause can go to ppunitedway.org and click the “donate” button.
Restaurant workers — both employed and unemployed — may register for their meal using the Eventbrite link posted each week at springsnative.com/rally-for-restaurants. Workers may claim up to four meals per day in order to feed themselves and their households.
For more information, please visit springsnative.com/rally-for-restaurants
