Food delivery company DoorDash gifted the New Jersey Restaurant & Hospitality Association $500,000 to dole out to restaurants in need of assistance due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Restaurants that can show they’ve experienced a loss of 30% or more compared to 2019 can apply to receive grants of $2,500 or $5,000.
The application process, which opens Feb. 1, is “really simple,” according to NJRHA President Marilou Halvorsen, who noted that the association “didn’t want to make it so overly complicated” for restaurant owners.
Applicants don’t need to be an NJRHA member or DoorDash partner to apply.
The grant is part of DoorDash’s five-year $200 million dollar Main Street Strong Pledge, which includes $10 million in grants for restaurants in cities and states around the nation.
“DoorDash was founded to empower local economies, and we know New Jersey’s restaurants are core to so many communities throughout the state,” said David London, director of government relations, U.S. East, for DoorDash in a prepared statement. “We’re proud to fund these grants, and partner with the New Jersey Restaurant and Hospitality Association to ensure we can support restaurants who need it most. We know these are challenging times for restaurant owners, and we’re committed to doing our part to help.”
The company connected with the NJRHA through Sen. Vin Gopal, D-11th District.
“A lot of restaurants use third party delivery,” Halvorsen said. “Some have been trying to take advantage and DoorDash has shown themselves to be good community partners.”
Halvorsen is part of a four-person review committee that, once the application process opens, will me once weekly to dole out money for New Jersey-based restaurants with five or less locations. Corporate restaurant chains are not eligible to apply. Earlier in the pandemic, the NJRHA created a crisis fund for food and beverage employees, all in giving approximately $75,000 directly to small restaurant employees to help them pay their bills.
Gov. Phil Murphy mentioned the DoorDash-NJRHA partnership and $500,000 grant in his Monday press conference.
