One of Alabama’s largest hospitality associations has partnered with a Birmingham distillery to help food and beverage industry workers who are struggling financially in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak.

The Alabama Restaurant and Hospitality Association and Redmont Distilling Company have launched the AL Hospitality Workers Relief Fund to help provide emergency financial assistance to hospitality workers facing financial hardship. Charles Barkley, Redmont Distilling’s majority owner, says he will match a portion of the donations to the initiative.

The fund will provide money for expenses such as rent, mortgage, or transportation, as well as utilities and funeral expenses (including travel). The relief fund will not cover credit card bills and loan payments. In order to qualify for the assistance program, hospitality workers must:

Live in Alabama

Have a primary source of income rooted in food and beverage

Face unanticipated financial hardship within the past six months or an emergency that’s unexpected and non-recurring

Have worked at current a employer 90 days or longer (considerations may be given from a previous employer)

For now, the maximum amount of assistance applicants can receive is $300 and the funds will be distributed via check. Interested workers can find the relief fund application on the ARHA website beginning Wednesday, April 1.

To apply, workers must include the contact information for their most recent employer (or previous employers, if applicants have been in a role less than six months), a description of their position and details about how an emergency grant will help their financial situations. Applicants must also complete a financial worksheet listing household income and itemized monthly expenses, as well as submit financial documents such as lodging statements, bills, two months of pay stubs or receipts. The application can also include a letter of reference from managers. All applications must be signed by a manager or general manager.

Redmont Distilling will review all submitted applications to verify information, including calling employers.

Workers in the food and beverage industry have been some of the hardest hit in the state as Alabama health departments prohibit on premise consumption as an effort to control the spread of COVID-19. Restaurants and bars have either closed their doors or pivoted to curbside and takeout-only service.

“ARHA knows that the COVID-19 is having a devastating impact on our entire industry. Our hearts are heavy, as we are aware of the pain and unrivaled daily challenges everyone is experiencing as a result of this pandemic,” ARHA’s president and CEO Mindy Hanan told AL.com in an email. “ARHA is closely monitoring this crisis and we are committed to advocate for policies that support businesses and employees.”

In addition to the relief fund, the ARHA is also working with the Alabama Grocers Association to match unemployed hospitality workers with grocers who need extra help restocking shelves as stores are slammed with customers buying extra supplies to weather the pandemic.

According to estimates from the ARHA, there were 199,600 restaurant and food service jobs in Alabama in 2019. In 2018, there were 8,620 eating and drinking locations in the state, and Alabama restaurants brought in nearly $9 billion in sales.

As of May 2019, nearly 186,900 people in Alabama reported working in food preparation and serving-related occupations, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. As of March 30, the Alabama Department of Labor says preliminary numbers show that workers in the food and beverage industry have filed nearly 18,310 claims for unemployment. Accommodation and food services workers filed nearly 3,199 of the 9,350 unemployment claims in Alabama the week of March 15.

The relief fund is accepting donations online through its GoFundMe charity site. Donations of more than $500 must be made via check and donated to the ARHA headquarters in Montgomery.

Redmont Distilling has also planned its own donation to the fund. The distillery commissioned Birmingham artist Rob Zilla and Yellowhammer Creative print shop to create the Redmont Tee, and all proceeds from the T-shirt sales will go to the hospitality relief fund. Redmont Distilling CEO Moira Adams says they have raised $600 in sales so far. The shirt’s current design pays homage to Birmingham, but Adams says the company is trying to figure out a way to make T-shirts for other cities in the state.

The spirits brand also hopes to raise an additional $5,000 for the hospitality relief fund through a social distancing happy hour on Instagram. Social media users can take photos of cocktails they make at home and tag the Redmont Distilling Instagram account. For each tag, Redmont will donate one dollar to the fund. The company plans to release more information about the happy hour in the coming days.

The relief fund has a goal to raise $100,000. So far, the fund has raised a little over $1,800 dollars online through its GoFundMe. Adams says Pro Start Academy, the foundation started by former NFL player and Birmingham resident Gary Burley, will donate $1,000.

The AL Hospitality Relief Fund is one of the biggest charitable efforts to date for Redmont Distilling Company, which rebranded in 2019 with new owners Barkley and Montal Morton, and a new marketing team led by Adams.

Since its relaunch, the distilling company has championed philanthropy and community involvement as one of its bottom lines. Last year, the spirits brand was a sponsor of Birmingham’s first Freedom Fest, a day-long education series and music festival.

Adams says developing the relief fund is the company’s first major charitable time commitment and that working with the ARHA was a “natural fit” for helping the state’s restaurant and bar employees.

“Redmont was looking to find a charity that could help write a check directly to impact hospitality workers who sell and build our brand day in and day out,” Adams told AL.com in an email. “We know that these workers need more than what is coming to them from the federal government.”

Spirits brand owner Charles Barkley also plans to personally donate money to the relief fund. Adams says Barkey will discuss the amount he will donate Wednesday morning on WJOX-FM. Redmont hopes the NBA Hall of Famer will match the amount of money in the fund’s GoFundMe that morning.

Barkley first announced he would make a personal donation to the AL Hospitality Workers Relief Fund on Sunday afternoon in a live video on the distilling company’s Instagram account with JOX Roundtable co-host Lance Taylor.

During the nearly hour-long chat, Barkley said he hoped to do more than one fundraising effort for the relief fund and called on viewers to throw out an amount of money that he could match.

“Give me a number that I can match that would put some stress on me” he joked.

The Leeds native also discussed self-quarantining for 10 days in mid-March, awaiting results of a coronavirus test. His results were negative.

Barkley voiced his concern for workers in the restaurant business facing hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that once the public can return to normal life, the financial situation for restaurants and bars won’t improve immediately.

“When we get ready to go back to going out to eat, a lot of people aren’t going to have that disposable income,” he said.

“I have some friends who work at Perry’s (Steakhouse). And I just can’t imagine. It’s going to get worse before it gets better,” Barkley added. “We’ve got to help all of these people who are going to be down and out for an extended period of time.”

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