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4 Easy Ways to Support Colorado Restaurants Right Now Celebrate Dine Out to Help Out Day on March 16 plus three other ways to bolster our local hospitality industry.Allyson Reedy • March 16, 2021 We all want to help our favorite restaurants survive the pandemic shutdowns, restrictions and, well, every other obstacle that’s been thrown at them over the past year—yes, they still need our support—but the good news is that there are fun and delicious ways to do so right now. Here, four ways to bolster the industry as easy as dining al fresco or sporting cool gear. Dine Out to Help Out
On March 11, President Joe Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act, creating relief programs and direct funds for individuals and businesses hit hard by the pandemic. Restaurants were specifically targeted this time (unlike in the CARES Act of 2020), with $28.6 billion allocated to the Restaurant Revitalization Fund. The fund, which will take the form of various-sized grants to chains as well as independent restaurants, comes at a time when the State of Colorado is also looking to make additional money available to small businesses. On March 10, Governor Jared Polis held a press conference with a bipartisan group of Colorado legislators and business owners to announce that $700 million is being made available for a proposed stimulus package called the Colorado Recovery Plan. Polis said that the money is available in the budget now because last year "we were prepared for worse," and officials were expecting "greater devastation to the state budget."