The California Restaurant Association Foundation (CRAF) has introduced a new philanthropic branch to its foundation, Restaurants Care, an emergency assistance fund to support restaurant workers facing an unforeseen hardship.
Restaurants Care is a program developed by the CRA Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering and improving the lives of current and future employees in the restaurant community. The new fund, Restaurants Care, provides crisis grants to restaurant employees facing a hardship. The grant provides financial assistance for basic living expenses and costs related to illness, injury, or natural disaster. Funding for Restaurants Care comes from a variety of sources including personal donations and corporate partnerships.
“The inspiration for this fund came in 2015 when Jose Santamaria, a restaurant employee in Sacramento was struck in a hit and run after a late-night shift. The doctors at UC Davis Medical Center didn’t expect him to live. The restaurant community came together and raised money to support Jose while he recovered,” comments Alycia Harshfield, CRAF’s Executive Director. “At that moment, we saw the need to do something on a bigger scale. Restaurant Care was created to take care of those at the heart of our industry. We are here to offer care, support and hope during their darkest hour.”
To celebrate the launch of this new fund, CRAF will host an inaugural benefit dinner and reception called The Grateful Table on Saturday, September 9th, 2017. For more information, click here.
