ALBANY — Co-founders of Feed Albany, the not-for-profit organization that since the coronavirus pandemic started eight months ago has provided 150,000 meals for individuals who are at risk or in need, have launched another relief effort, this one for restaurant employees.
Called the Capital Region Restaurant Fund, it is intended to provide short-term financial assistance to members of the hospitality industry who have tested positive for COVID-19, are being required to quarantine because of possible exposure to the virus or are not working while their employer is temporarily closed after a staffer tested positive. The beneficiaries initially will be employees, but businesses may be considered if the fund’s resources grow large enough to accommodate restaurant and bar requests, said Jason Pierce, who created the Capital Region Restaurant Fund with Feed Albany co-founder Dominick Purnomo.
To start, the campaign is soliciting donations through a GoFundMe page that went online on Monday. Its first target is $25,000, with about $1,100 donated by midday Tuesday. Because Feed Albany’s meal-focused mission statement is too narrow to allow it to be the umbrella organization for the fund, Pierce and Purnomo are looking for a larger not-for-profit that can become its administrator, which would allow donations to be tax-deductible, Pierce said.
In the meantime, a fund advisory board is being established that will review applications for assistance. It includes Pierce, owner of Savoy Taproom and the forthcoming The Copper Crow, both in Albany; Purnomo, of Yono’s and dp: An American Brasserie in Albany; and fellow Feed Albany board member Matthew T. Peter, who is an Albany County legislator and executive director of the Albany Parking Authority. A fourth member is in the final steps of confirmation, Pierce said, and a fifth is being recruited.
Although exact disbursement parameters are still being worked out and will vary by application, Pierce said, the fund’s goal is to make up the difference between what quarantined or furloughed employees get in government assistance — through the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act, state unemployment and other programs — and their regular wages. He said initial payments are likely to be $100 to $300 weekly, depending on a recipient’s circumstances, and will be reconsidered each week as a new application.
In its first day the fund received five applications, he said. Pierce said he will recuse himself from any fund grant decisions involving employees of Savoy, which he intends to reopen Friday after a two-week closure following a staff member testing positive for COVID-19. Purnomo likewise will not be involved should employees of dp/Yono’s, which have had no cases, apply to the fund, Purnomo said.
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November 18, 2020 at 02:34AM
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Feed Albany founders set up fund for COVID-affected restaurant staff - Times Union
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