Have a virtual meal or drink with friends and help local restaurants survive
On St. Patrick’s Day, Mayor Darrell Steinberg shared a virtual beer with friends on video chat to raise money to help restaurants, bars and their workers who face economic harm because of the coronavirus directive to limit food operations to takeout and delivery.
The Zoom videochat, posted on Facebook here, https://bit.ly/2U0X9tW, helped raise $9,760 in less than 24 hours for Save Our Local Restaurants, a new fund affiliated with Region Restaurants, which is part of Region Business. The video chat was the brainchild of Sasha Abramsky, a local freelance author. The idea is to donate funds that would have been spent going out to the relief fund.
Funding decisions will be made by a board that will include representatives from Region Restaurants, the Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Sacramento Area Economic Council, Visit Sacramento, the Sacramento Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce and the Midtown Association. Donors can specify whether they want their money to go to provide general relief or help a specific bar or restaurant. They can also designate if they want the money to go specifically to help employees who have lost income.
“The coronavirus shutdowns have dealt a devasting blow to Sacramento’s restaurant industry, and we don’t know how many won’t be able to recover,” said Josh Wood of Region Restaurants. “At the same time, we’ve been gratified by the rallying of support by Mayor Steinberg and the larger Sacramento community.”
“We have so many great eating and drinking establishments in Sacramento; it’s a big part of what defines us,” Mayor Darrell Steinberg said. “Having a virtual drink or meal with friends is less expensive than going out. Let’s use the extra money to make sure our favorite dining spots and watering holes are still there when we emerge from this crisis.”
The City of Sacramento and the Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce are also standing up a variety of resources to help small businesses hurt by the shutdowns. The Sacramento City Council will launch a new portal by 5 p.m. today where small businesses hurt by the coronavirus shutdowns can apply for a zero interest loan of up to $25,000. Find more information at https://cityofsacramento.org/covid19-relief.
Professionals are also staffing a hotline for business at 916-808-7196.
The Sac Metro Chamber has launched an emergency information hub with resources to help business. Visit www.metrochamber.org. Displaced workers looking for help can get advice from trained volunteers by dialing 211 starting at about 5 p.m. today.
