Restaurant, hospitality worker relief fund exceeds $100,000
Pocono Record
A relief fund for restaurant and hospitality workers launched by the Pocono Mountains United Way has exceeded its $100,000 goal.
According to local United Way President/CEO Michael Tukeva, 91 donors have given $125,095. The fund, which was set up after Gov. Tom Wolf and Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine announced other indoor dining shutdown, got an initial boost of $50,000 from the Pocono Mountains Visitors Bureau.
The United Way has approved more than 100 applications so far, with more than 500 submitted.
“This warms my heart that our community continues to show up and respond when we are challenged, that we are coming together to serve those that have served us, that we care for the vulnerable,” Tukeva said in a video on the Pocono Mountains United Way Facebook page.
Business Buzz thetimes-tribune.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thetimes-tribune.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
It has been just about a week since Gov. Tom Wolf issued his order to shut down indoor dining across the commonwealth, and the impact on industry workers is already palpable, especially in light of the rapidly-approaching holidays.
Wolf’s directive, one of several mitigation efforts put into effect on Dec. 12, dealt a substantial blow to the already heavily impacted world of restaurants and bars in Pennsylvania. While outdoor dining, food and alcohol takeout still are permitted, thousands of servers, hosts and hostesses, bartenders and other employees have found themselves unemployed or severely underemployed.
Dustie Heller has been a server at Barley Creek Brewing Company in Tannersville for four years, and usually makes what she considers a great income. Now, she works only about a quarter of the hours she previously did.
The Pocono Mountains United Way has set out to help support those in the hospitality and restaurant industries struggling through the most trying times of the pandemic via a new relief fund that has already accrued tens of thousands of dollars in donations.
On Tuesday, officials from the Pocono Mountains United Way, the Pocono Mountains Visitors Bureau, and local restaurateurs and workers came together in an outdoor tent at Barley Creek Brewing Company in Tannersville to discuss a new effort to assist hospitality and restaurant industry employees who were suffering financial hardships during the latest indoor dining closure that will stretch from Dec. 12 to Jan. 4.
PMVB, United Way announce new restaurant relief fund – Times News Online tnonline.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from tnonline.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.