Coronavirus News
New Dallas nonprofit Furlough Kitchen feeds jobless restaurant workers
Dallas restaurant and hospitality workers who've lost their jobs can get one free meal at a day, thanks to a newly formed nonprofit.
Called Furlough Kitchen, it's an enterprise from Front Burner Restaurants, LLC, a restaurant innovation lab, that will provide furloughed hospitality workers one free meal a day, no matter their former employer.
Furlough Kitchen is a curbside pick-up kitchen that will serve individually packaged meals Monday through Saturday, from 12-5 pm. It's located at 4318 Eastside Ave., and is a collaboration between Front Burner Restaurants and CitySquare.
A release says that they're using Front Burner's catering kitchen, Vestals Catering Co., along with CitySquare’s support network, to create a united team ready to cook a hot meal for anyone affected by restaurant and event closures.
They anticipate they will be able to serve more than 1,000 meals per day.
Front Burner CEO Randy DeWitt says they're doing everything possible to keep their kitchens operating for contact-free, curbside service and have already started serving many "Home Meal Kits."
"This program has allowed us to continue to employ about 8 percent of our staff and provide a free daily meal to all of our furloughed team," he says in a statement. "We are deeply committed to the welfare of every person in our hospitality industry, and as community leaders, we are focused on utilizing our resources to help these men and women in this time of need."
Front Burner Restaurants is seeking partnerships and sponsorships from hospitality vendors, owners, and concerned individuals and companies. If you would like to donate, visit www.furloughkitchen.org.
"Every dollar you donate will ensure we can continue to provide meals to the very people that have served you for years, in many of your favorite establishments," DeWitt says. "Your donation will foster hope for the future of our industry and give back to this industry's reputation for giving everything it's got."
