KSHB 41 reporter Lily O’Shea Becker covers Franklin and Douglas counties in Kansas. Share your story idea with Lily.
The Lawrence Restaurant Association founded the Hospitality Relief Fund amid the COVID-19 pandemic to help restaurant employees across Douglas County with living costs.
"It was like a weight lifted off my shoulder because I didn't know what to do," Isis Ruiz said.
Ruiz started working at Mass Street Fish House in 2021 when the restaurant industry was still feeling the effects of the pandemic.
"Rent still has to get paid and bills still have to get paid," she said.
Ruiz utilized the Hospitality Relief Fund for rental assistance in 2021. It was initially funded with COVID-19 relief money.
"They were able to distribute over $260,000 to hospitality workers in Douglas County," said Laura Klein, the owner and operator of Mass Street Fish House. She's also the chair of the Lawrence Restaurant Association.
The COVID-19 relief money has run out, but the need remains.
"A lot of us — I'm not speaking for everybody — don't have health insurance or don't have money set aside for these accidents," Ruiz said about restaurant industry employees.
Now, Lawrence restaurants contribute some of their Restaurant Week revenue to the fund. With an additional fundraiser in the fall, last year the fund raised $22,000 in total. This year, Restaurant Week runs from Jan. 16 to Jan. 26.
The Lawrence Restaurant Association partnered with Lawrence institutions such as Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center, Ballard Center, Centro Hispano, and the Heartland Community Health Center to offer their employees living assistance through the fund.
Through those institutions, qualified employees can get health care, mental health care, dental care, childcare, and utility and rental assistance.
When Ruiz broke her foot last year in a fall, she was unable to work for two months. She reached out to the Ballard Center, and the center covered all her utility bills for a month through the fund.
"The world doesn't stop because this happened to you," she said.
Across the street at Rudy's Pizzeria, co-owner Rob Zernickow saw the impact of the fund firsthand during the pandemic.
"I've seen people that otherwise would be homeless, that did not have an opportunity to work during the pandemic because of the lockdowns, be able to still afford their housing," he said.
Ruiz, Klein and Zernickow say the fund stands for what Lawrence is, a community that lends a hand and lifts each other up.
"I think what we're all invested in here is a sustainable, long-term, healthy and profitable hospitality community, and in order to have that, we have to support each other," Klein said.
The Lawrence Restaurant Association suggests restaurants that participate in Restaurant Week contribute 10% of their week's revenue to the fund, but it is up to each individual establishment.
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