New initiative to support Restaurants & Restaurant Workers

With indoor and outdoor dining shutdown, the local Baltimore City restaurant industry is reeling from the impacts. To address this, Baltimore Restaurant Relief Fund have announced “Feed The Industry,” a newly launched initiative in which meals will be purchased from local Baltimore City restaurants to feed unemployed restaurant workers. 

Beginning Wednesday, December 30th, Baltimore City restaurants will be able to apply to be a sponsor restaurant on the Baltimore Restaurant Relief Fund webpage at www.bmorerestaurantrelief.org. Sponsor restaurants will receive up to $1,500 to prepare free meals throughout January and February for those in the hospitality industry who are unemployed. Baltimore Restaurant Relief Fund will coordinate dates throughout January and February for workers to pick up free meals from the sponsor restaurants.

“The stress and uncertainty of 2020 is nothing new for small business owners like restaurants that are the backbone of our city and are, unfortunately, bearing the brunt of the pandemic. This program has a dual benefit in that it helps both restaurants and unemployed service industry workers,” said Michael Fader, Vice President of MileOne Holdings, parent company of MileOne Autogroup. To bring some relief during this time, MileOne has committed $30,000 to this newly launched initiative. “We are hoping that this will serve as a catalyst for support by other businesses that are in a position to help,” added Fader. 

“The timing and funding couldn’t be more critical,” said Dave Seel, Board President of the Baltimore Restaurant Relief Fund. “Our goal with the ‘Feed The Industry’ initiative is to facilitate a chain of giving that financially supports Baltimore City restaurants while also helping to feed workers who are struggling due to the shutdowns. We’re thrilled that MileOne shares our vision for this initiative and cares about the state of our local industry.”

The Baltimore Restaurant Relief Fund was established by Seel and others in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated shutdown of the restaurant and hospitality industry in Maryland. Their mission is to provide for Baltimore-area restaurant workers, sustain local small businesses and otherwise mitigate the severe economic consequences of this global pandemic.

“We really hope that this will be an ongoing initiative to bring funding to this critical community driven industry. We all need to do our part to support our local restaurants and bars by ordering carryout every week, buying gift cards and tipping well,” continued Seel. “Our ‘Feed The Industry’ Initiative is just another way that MileOne and Baltimore Restaurant Relief Fund can help during this time, but we all have to be working together to support the Baltimore restaurant industry, and we hope other foundations, businesses and funding institutions will help us continue this initiative and our mission.”

For more information on the Baltimore Restaurant Relief Fund and the “Feed The Industry” Initiative, visit www.bmorerestaurantrelief.org. For interviews with Michael Fader and/or Dave Seel, please contact Amy Burke Friedman of PROFILES at the contact information above.

MileOne Autogroup represents 26 automotive brands with 80 dealership locations and eight body shops under the Hall, Heritage, Herb Gordon, Mercedes-Benz of Annapolis and MotorWorld divisions. The MileOne Autogroup model provides for all the automotive needs of its customers conveniently and on their terms. MileOne Autogroup is the largest automotive sales and service delivery network in the Mid-Atlantic area with dealerships located throughout Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and North Carolina. For more information on MileOne, visit www.mileone.com.