With this pandemic clearly dragging into the new year, Grubhub and The Greg Hill Foundation’s Restaurant Strong Fund announced the Restaurant Winterization Grant program, a new initiative to provide $10,000 grants to eligible independent restaurants.
As indoor dining remains limited in many cities while COVID-19 infections continue to climb, this financial support is intended to help restaurants prepare for winter, including adding infrastructure and equipment to extend outdoor dining, personal protective equipment to protect their employees, and other necessities to get them through the cold-weather months.
The program will be supported with a $2 million grant recommended from Grubhub Community Relief Fund, a donor-advised fund created in March by Grubhub to support charitable organizations helping restaurants, drivers and those in need impacted by COVID-19. Restaurant Strong Fund will also be accepting donations for the Restaurant Winterization Grant program, helping extend the program beyond the initial launch.
“What Grubhub has done already to support thousands of restaurant owners and their employees has been instrumental in helping them make it through work interruptions during the pandemic,” said Greg Hill, Founder of The Greg Hill Foundation.” With this next phase, they will ensure that countless restaurants have a fighting chance to make it through winter. We can’t thank them enough for their initiative and drive to help.”
“This winter will be different than any one before, with the restaurants we know and love needing more support to get through the season,” said Seth Priebatsch, chief revenue officer at Grubhub. “Our partnership with the Restaurant Strong Fund—already instrumental in providing grants for restaurant employee relief earlier in the pandemic—is now responding to the needs of restaurants and providing valuable support to help them survive the challenging months ahead.”
Starting November 9 through November 21, the Restaurant Strong Fund will accept grant applications from all restaurants located in Chicago, New York City, Boston or Philadelphia with five or fewer locations. The application period will close on November 21 and grants will be fully distributed to restaurants before the end of November.
Interested restaurants can learn more about the Restaurant Winterization Grant program and the full application process at https://www.restaurantstrong.org/winterize/.
