Eat Out Restaurant Relief Fund, which has successfully collected R2.7M (about 160,000 USD) since it was launched in South Africa about seven months ago, continues to support the sector with its new “Eat Out Food School” project.
Donors such as S.Pellegrino have supported restaurants in producing over one million meals to help feed the vulnerable in their communities during the coronavirus pandemic with Eat Out Restaurant Relief Fund. The fund helped restaurants cover costs and stay operational, so they were able to offer feeding plans for those most affected by the pandemic and reopen their doors when restrictions were lifted.
“It was a really tough time for all restaurants and heartbreaking to see their desperation during the Covid-19 hard lockdown,” says Tarryn Corlett, head of the fund. “However, despite their own suffering, magic transpired when the restaurants opened their hearts and kitchens and started preparing meals for their local communities.”
By the end of September, the fund had helped support an incredible 55 restaurants, including Railways Café in Pretoria, which distributed food parcels; D’urban Burger Co in Durban, which cooked and delivered over 1650 hot meals to the vulnerable; Love Bites Café in Soweto, Gauteng, which served 800 meals to underprivileged communities in and around Soweto; and Big Mamma’s in Cape Town, which doubled up its open kitchen to run both a delivery service and a soup kitchen supplying hot meals to a child/youth care centre in the area.
As the need continued Eat Out continued to fund 33 restaurants so that they could continue with their feeding projects.
While the fund will continue to help restaurants during the crisis, it is also expanding into a new project to offer young and disadvantaged people the opportunity to train and work within the industry.
Eat Out continues to work with the community and has just launched the Eat Out Food School, due to open in February, 2021. It’s a new initiative giving 15 unemployed or disadvantaged youths the opportunity to gain employment within the restaurant industry.
“Our aim is to help rebuild South Africa’s restaurant industry by giving back and upskilling the historically disadvantaged youth to increase employment within the industry,” said a spokesperson from Eat Out.
Eat Out will be offering a fully-funded 12-month ‘learnership’ to students, between the ages of 18 to 34, who meet the criteria and show a passion for the industry.
Applications are now open and will close on the 30th November 2020. Visit https://help.eatout.co.za/food-school to find out more.