Celebrity chef Guy Fieri or the “Mayor of Flavourtown” as he is popularily known has helped raise more than $20 million by partnering with the US National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation.
He revealed the news in an interview with TMZ. He and the organization have been sending restaurant workers $500 grants through the newly created Restaurant Employee Relief Fund.
“I started thinking about my brothers and sisters in the restaurant business, and a bunch of restaurants that I was closing — we gotta do something,” Fieri said of starting the relief fund.
How exactly did Fieri manage to raise such a massive sum? He said he personally sent video messages to CEOs from PepsiCo, The Coca-Cola Company, Uber Eats and other companies to help with the fund and includes Food Network, Live Nation, Corona, TikTok and Netflix.
In the US alone, thousands of restaurant workers have lost their jobs. Today.com reports that hundreds, if not thousands, of restaurants may be closed until the pandemic is under control, and it’s likely that many more will never recover.
