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There’s no denying that the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic is having a devastating effect on the lives of millions of Americans. In fact, it’s a crisis that has globally turned people’s lives upside-down.
Virtually all states are presently under a lockdown status with orders that people stay at home except for essential workers. As you can imagine, many people have been laid off from their employment as their workplaces are now effectively closed until further notice.
Laid-off workers are being encouraged to claim unemployment benefits. But, despite many people doing so, as much as one-third of claimants are still waiting to receive money. That’s because of processing delays or claimants not being eligible to claim yet.
With the future looking somewhat bleak for laid-off workers, there is some positivity to come out of the situation. Three service industry companies in the United States affected by the COVID-19 lockdown are proactively helping now-unemployed service industry workers.
Here’s a round-up of who those companies are and what their vision for helping laid-off service industry workers entails:
The Death Wish Coffee Company
The Death Wish Coffee Company is a well-known coffee retailer and producer in the Saratoga Springs area of New York. They have taken time out of roasting coffee beans and are instead fundraising to give financial aid to laid-off service industry workers in the area.
They’ve collaborated with the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce to sell T-shirts with two different colors and designs on them as part of their “Broke not Busted” program.
The black “meme” T-shirt has the words “When this is all over, please continue to stay at least 6 feet away from me” written across the front. The other, a gray T-shirt, sports a design from local tattoo artist Melanie Lucia-Clarke of Albany’s The Dead Presidents Lounge.
Each T-shirt sells for $25, and the program aims to raise $75,000 to help local service industry workers laid off because of the COVID-19 coronavirus lockdown in New York.
SBE Entertainment Group
A global hospitality brand headquartered in Los Angeles has had to furlough most of its workforce. SBE Entertainment Group has transformed the lobby of one of its high-end hotels in Miami into a care package coordination center for its laid-off workers.
The company is arranging for hundreds of its local workers in Miami to receive large boxes filled with pantry staples and personal care essentials to help ease their financial strife. Additionally, SBE is also providing workers with a $50 gas or grocery gift card.
SBE has also rolled out the care packages for laid-off staff in Los Angeles. In New York, the staff at its Hudson New York hotel are still working as normal due to the hotel becoming a temporary home for many healthcare workers in the city.
Samuel Adams
The beer chain Samuel Adams launched the Restaurant Strong Fund in collaboration with The Greg Hill Foundation. The collaboration is aiming to donate money in the form of grants to restaurant workers in over 20 states impacted by the COVID-19 lockdowns.
Kickstarting the fund, Samuel Adams itself pledged $2 million to the fund, providing $1,000 grants to eligible people in the hospitality industry. The Restaurant Strong Fund was unveiled back on March 18 during Boston’s mandated COVID-19 lockdown.
In its first week, the Restaurant Strong Fund successfully raised almost half a million dollars thanks to the generosity of over 2,000 donors. At that point, both Samuel Adams and The Greg Hill Foundation decided to spread the fund out across the country.
Final thoughts
Those are just three of many examples where businesses are coming together to support the workers that have helped their firms grow. In these extreme times of crisis, everyone is uniting to fight a common enemy and looking at ways to support people that need help most.
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