Flooded with applications, Guy Fieri's restaurant relief fund crashed in less than a day

Guy Fieri visits "Extra" at their New York studios at H&M in Times Square on Oct. 11, 2016 in New York City. The celebrity chef recently launched a relief fund for furloughed restaurant employees, but a flood of applications crashed the site. less Guy Fieri visits "Extra" at their New York studios at H&M in Times Square on Oct. 11, 2016 in New York City. The celebrity chef recently launched a relief fund for furloughed restaurant employees, but a ... more Photo: D Dipasupil/Getty Images For Extra Photo: D Dipasupil/Getty Images For Extra Image 1 of / 18 Caption Close Flooded with applications, Guy Fieri's restaurant relief fund crashed in less than a day 1 / 18 Back to Gallery

Guy Fieri just wanted to give furloughed restaurant employees a chance to get back on their feet.

Last week, the television personality and chef announced a partnership with the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation to launch a relief fund for industry staff who lost their jobs as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. Applications were set to open last Thursday at midnight, and over $10 million had been raised for the relief fund.

But that chance never came for thousands of workers hoping to cash in on the $500 grants. The volume of applicants was so high that the server crashed, rendering the website inaccessible for at least a day until the NRAEF shut it down entirely.

“We are sincerely apologetic for the site still being down,” a representative tweeted on Friday before eventually announcing, “Over the weekend, we will take down the application so that we can upgrade our system and expand capacity. Please check back with us on Monday, April 6 for an update.”

Still, patience was waning. Some applicants said they had been waiting “15+ hours” for their submissions to go through. One San Francisco woman tweeted that she stayed up until at least 3 in the morning and had been “trying the whole day” to access the overwhelmed application platform.

Thank you for your patience & support as we worked to improve our Restaurant Employee Relief Fund website.



Please head to our Facebook page for updates regarding all aspects of the application process: https://t.co/TVkLF7NCCj pic.twitter.com/OwkNpjk41r — NRAEF (@NRAEF) April 6, 2020

On Monday morning, the foundation informed the public that they would be reviewing all submitted applications in addition to following up with “nearly 13,000 individuals” who had been kicked off the server before they were able to complete their applications.

They also plan to open up their updated platform to a new batch of applicants starting Friday, April 10.

“We encourage all new applicants to carefully read our updated FAQ section on this site so that you are prepared for the application process,” read an update on the Restaurant Employee Relief Fund website.

More information is expected to come tomorrow at 9 a.m. PST.

Meanwhile, Fieri's own life in isolation doesn't appear to be too lonely. In addition to his wife and sons, he's accompanied by 400 goats that will apparently be used as "a form of organic weed control" on his property. He's planning to shoot a "quarantine version" of "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" that will soon be aired on the Food Network, relying on five GoPros in addition to FaceTime calls to restaurant owners who will send their recipes to Fieri.

And he hopes to boost his restaurant fund to $100 million, he told the Washington Post — mostly through corporate sponsors. UberEats and Tyson Foods are already among them.

"This is a terrible time," Fieri said of his efforts. "Please recognize that you could have people losing everything — your favorite pizzeria, your favorite Indian restaurant, your favorite sushi joint, your favorite watering hole could all go away and be gone, and these people are onto a whole 'nother nothing."

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Amanda Bartlett is an SFGATE associate digital reporter. Email: amanda.bartlett@sfgate.com | Twitter: @byabartlett