SAN ANTONIO – The hospitality industry has been crippled by the coronavirus pandemic with hundreds of thousands of workers furloughed around the country after restaurants and bars have been ordered to close or limit orders to pick-up and delivery only.
For employees in the restaurant industry who have been furloughed during the pandemic, there is a Restaurant Employee Relief Fund that offers $500 grants to help during times of hardship.
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The grant is a one-time payout for workers who meet certain requirements. You can apply here.
“Through this Fund, grants will be made to restaurant industry employees who have been impacted by COVID-19, including a decrease in wages or loss of employment,” according to the fund’s website.
Do you qualify for relief aid?
- In order to qualify you must have worked part- or full-time in the restaurant industry for at least 90 days in the past year and have experienced a job loss or a decrease in wages on, or after, March 10.
- Additionally, your primary source of income for the last year must have come from the restaurant industry.
- Grants are only given to restaurant workers who live in the United States, an overseas U.S. military base, or any U.S. territory, according to the website.
For a list of required documentation needed to apply for a relief grant, click here.
Unemployment claims in Texas spiked 862% in just one week in March, according to data from the U.S. Department of Labor.
San Antonio best-selling author and journalist Shea Serrano has made headlines recently for his philanthropic efforts to help those struggling to make ends meet due to COVID-19.
a woman paid me $1300 to do a 30-min Q&A with employees at her company
— Shea Serrano (@SheaSerrano) March 30, 2020
i greatly love money but my family and i are fine
who’s a fast food employee who needs me to pay their rent this month
send me a pic of you in your work shirt with your cashapp and i’ll give you the $1300
The latest extension of kindness: Serrano sent $1,300 to a waitress at Wing Daddy’s on Monday and even got a shoutout from former President Barack Obama.
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COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the new virus, stands for coronavirus disease 2019. The disease first appeared in late 2019 in Wuhan, China, but spread around the world in early 2020, causing the World Health Organization to declare a pandemic in March.
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