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Guy Fieri Helps Raise $25 Million for Struggling Restaurant Workers

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  • Celebrity chef Guy Fieri knew firsthand how the restaurant business struggled.
  • So he helped set up the Restaurant Employee Relief Fund to assist struggling restaurant workers.
  • The fund has since raised over $25 million, with thousands already receiving their grants.

The restaurant business has been hit hard this past year. With so many restaurants having to temporarily close down and then to reopen only at limited capacity, several workers have found themselves without a job. So celebrity chef Guy Fieri decided to help.

Last spring, the “Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives” star partnered with the National Restaurant Association to help set up the Restaurant Employee Relief Fund.

Fieri told CBS News, “So many people work in the restaurant industry in multiple jobs, second jobs, single moms, single parents, students, retirees. And the restaurant industry is massively important to our communities. And so, when I saw this coming, I said, ‘We got to do something to get some money to these folks.”

The fund has since raised over $25 million in total.

Several companies donated to the fund, along with about 15,000 individual donations. Thanks to these donations, more than 43,000 restaurant employees in all 50 states — as well as in Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and D.C. — have received $500 grants.

According to the grant recipients, around 90% will be using the money for essential expenses, such as utility bills, rent or mortgage, transportation expenses, or childcare.

Fieri shared a story he heard with CBS about service industry workers: “Someone saying, ‘I live in a building with a bunch of people who work in the service industry, and none of us have any money—I don’t even have anyone I can borrow money from because nobody I know has any money.’ When you start hearing those kinds of things… there’s nothing more important.”

Fieri, known for his iconic hair and love of barbecue, has also been known to be charitable. Just last fall, he helped feed thousands of firefighters who were battling the wildfires in California. He really knows what even a little help can do.

Source: Good News Network

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