Re:Her, a new non-profit, launched a COVID-relief grant program sponsored by DoorDash to help female-owned restaurants in Los Angeles. Fifteen cash grants of $10,000 will be awarded to female-identifying entrepreneurs to help bolster their business as they see fit.

“The initiatives DoorDash has implemented over the last year to support women-owned businesses align with the RE:Her mission, and the partnership we have formed will bolster the RE:Her community beyond just grants, including marketing and educational resources for members,” said RE:Her founding member Heather Sperling. “Third-party delivery can be both a lifeline and a challenge for restaurants, but we are excited to partner with one of the key players in this space to funnel resources back into businesses as they rebuild in the coming months.”

Grantees will also receive access to consulting and mentorship from specialists in restaurant finance (Elissa Phillips of Mise En Place Restaurant Services), human resources (Delmy Franco of HR Specialists Group) and public relations/marketing (Joy Limanon of Peridot Consulting). 

A committee of hospitality and business experts will select the grantees, including Mendocino Farms cofounder Ellen Chen, former Food & Wine editor-in-chief Dana Cowin, Los Angeles Times food writer Jenn Harris, The Hundreds founders Ben & Bobby Hundreds, restaurant accountant Barbara Barschak, restaurateur Roy Choi, consultant and media personality Monti Carlo, trademark attorney Elizabeth Sbardaletti, Jessica Kaczmerek of the James Irvine Foundation and Kristin Aldana-Taday of the Hilton Foundation.

The non-profit is a result of an event in January called 10 Days RE:Her that led to a platform for the advancement and empowerment of female-identifying restaurateurs with opportunities and resources, both financial and educational.

“Over the last four months, RE:Her has grown into a platform for connection for 250-plus women to share resources, information and support, and we want to continue to champion and empower our community with these grants,” said Lien Ta, a RE:Her Founding Member. “The grant program has been a core element of our organization from day one, and we are excited to roll this out to give our members a leg-up as they rebound from the most challenging time in the history of our industry.”

Applications are now closed but there is no indication that Re:Her is done offering support.

The California Restaurant Association Foundation launched the Restaurants Care Resilience Fund in March 2020 at the start of the pandemic, and over the course of a year received over $1.25 million in donations to power the grants.

Last May, 318 recipients were chosen out of 1,000 applicants. As part of the year-long support services, the restaurant owners were welcomed into a cohort and received discounts, services, peer-to-peer support, and monthly educational learning opportunities led by experts in marketing restaurant businesses, menu review for improving the bottom line and restaurant essentials.

“Together, with the generosity of SoCalGas, PG&E, SDG&E and Wells Fargo, we are helping one of the hardest hit industries, in some of the hardest hit communities,” said Alycia Harshfield, Executive Director of California Restaurant Foundation. “We are inspired by the determination and grit of the restaurants selected for the Resilience Fund grants. Many are multigeneration, family-owned businesses with amazing stories and connections to their neighborhoods. The addition of the small-business support services powered by Wells Fargo complements the financial grants provided by the utility companies, and both are critical for long-term resilience as we come out of this pandemic.”

Of the 318 grant recipients, 65% were female restaurant owners and 83% identified as people of color. 

Restaurants Reorganizing and Rebuilding (ROAR) and a new real estate leasing organization, Retail by MONA, partnered to create MONA Cares, a relief fund targeting New York City restaurants by providing rental relief and financial funds.

“At ROAR we are honored to partner with Retail by MONA, a forward-thinking real estate company that understands the vital importance of working with their tenants and investing back into their businesses,” said Dana Cowin, co-founder of ROAR. “It has become very clear that the future success of NYC restaurants – and indeed the cultural fabric of the city – is dependent in part on this kind of enlightened approach.”

Retail by MONA is extending its leasing representation services to retail business and restaurant owners and committing to contribute a portion of the value of their brokerage fees back into New York City; 50% of the allotted percentage will go back to the business owner to help them with start-up costs, and the remaining 50% will go to ROAR’s Restaurant Employee Relief Program to support existing businesses and employees who have been affected by COVID-19. The relief program is intended to bolster new owners and alleviate the barrier to entry in renting new space or relocating an existing restaurant or storefront.

“The pandemic has hit the retail industry hard, and with staggering storefront vacancies, streetscapes have been transformed,” said Brandon L. Singer, founder and CEO of Retail by MONA, in a release. “We believe in doing business for the greater good and a better tomorrow for all. That’s why we wanted to launch MONA CARES – to do our part in helping to drive the city’s renaissance. We’re thrilled to have partnered with ROAR to bring this initiative to life – it felt like the most sustainable and circular way to help bring New York City back.”

This is the first installment of the new program, with additional components to be released at a later date.

Feed the Soul Foundation, the non-profit arm of Black Restaurant Week LLC, announced a fund in partnership with Grubhub and Maker’s Mark called the Restaurant Business Development Grant Program. This fund awards 25 small businesses with $10,000 each.

During the month of February, Grubhub ran a Donate the Change program and donated all the proceeds to Feed the Soul Foundation, to go along with an investment from Maker’s Mark’s.

In 2020, hundreds of applicants submitted materials, and of those, 94% were Black-owned restaurants.

“Black-owned businesses were already faced with funding challenges and creating sustainability before the pandemic. We spent years speaking with restaurateurs to hear their concerns, and there was an echoing sentiment,” said Falayn Ferrell, Chairwoman of Feed the Soul Foundation and co-founder of Black Restaurant Week. “We came to understand there is not a one-size-fits-all method. One restaurant needs support in building a digital presence; however, a food truck is seeking knowledge to expand to a brick-and-mortar location. We focused on developing a solution to address individualized concerns with personalized insights to improve and grow their businesses.”

Those chosen for the grants will be paired with subject matter experts and consultants during the six-month program that will further their growth and knowledge of the restaurant industry. The support includes: financial literacy training presented by Amergy Bank; financial review from independent financial consultants; advertising and marketing training; one-on-one business consultations from industry experts; and evaluation reviews.

2022 applications for the program open soon.

On May 12, the credit card company American Express (which purchased reservation platform Resy in 2019) announced the winners of its $1 million grant program in partnership with the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

The companies selected 25 historic and culturally significant restaurants in the U.S. owned by underrepresented groups that will receive funding through the “Backing Historic Small Restaurants” Grant Program. Each restaurant will receive $40,000 to enhance restaurant exteriors, build new outdoor seating areas and upgrade online businesses.

“Historic small restaurants are cultural treasures that strengthen their communities and carry their legacies and traditions forward in deeply meaningful ways,” said Katherine Malone-France, Chief Preservation Officer of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. “These restaurants have demonstrated their resiliency for decades, and even while dealing with the financial impacts of the pandemic, they have continued to support their communities in many ways. We are honored to partner with American Express to help these landmarks write the next chapters in their amazing stories.”

Chefs Deborah VanTrece, Edouardo Jordan, and Kwame Onwuachi were part of a chef advisory committee choosing the winners, along with American Express representatives and The National Trust.

A spokesperson for the company told NRN that it has no plans for additional relief but is “exploring options on how best to support small restaurants.”

On May 25, third-party delivery provider Grubhub and The Greg Hill Foundation’s Restaurant Strong Fund announced the latest phase in their commitment to supporting restaurants: the Restaurant Stronger program, a new initiative to provide $5,000 grants to eligible independent restaurants.

“Over the last 14 months, the support that Grubhub has given to the restaurant community has been extraordinary,” said Greg Hill, Founder of The Greg Hill Foundation, in a statement. “They have ensured that the Restaurant Strong Fund was able to provide millions of dollars in grants to restaurants and their employees to help them survive. This next step will help the industry with what is hopefully a final step toward getting back to their normal.”

The Restaurant Stronger grant program will be supported with a $2 million donation recommended from the Grubhub Community Relief Fund (GCRF), a donor-advised fund created by Grubhub to support charitable organizations helping restaurants, drivers and those in need impacted by COVID-19. This second phase of the program follows the Winterization Grants launched late last year from a $2 million donation that funded grants to nearly 200 independent restaurants.

“As we start to see the country open up after more than a year of uncertainty, we’re focused on supporting our restaurant partners as they are welcomed back into their communities in full,” said Kevin Kearns, senior vice president of restaurants at Grubhub. “However, we know that reopening comes with its own expenses, so it’s important for us to come together with the Restaurant Strong Fund again to help lift up the industry in this next, and hopefully final, phase of returning to our new normal post-pandemic.”

Grant applications will be accepted May 25 through June 5 for restaurants with fewer than five locations in Atlanta, the San Francisco Bay Area (San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley), Boston, Chicago, Las Vegas, the Los Angeles area (Los Angeles, Anaheim, Long Beach), New York City, Philadelphia, Portland, Sacramento, San Diego, Seattle, and Washington, D.C. Funds will be distributed to winners by June 11.