After providing hungry patrons with food and service with a smile for years, many of Lexington’s restaurant employees suddenly found themselves out of a job in March, as changing public health regulations forced restaurants to close their doors to the public in the battle against COVID-19.

As owners were left wondering how they’d pay the bills, some restaurants quickly transitioned to takeout and delivery services with a pared-down staff, while others, like Alfalfa restaurant, have announced their closure or, like Joe Bologna’s restaurant, an indefinite hiatus until the crisis has passed.

Meanwhile, several groups have been busy organizing, soliciting donations and serving food to displaced or significantly underemployed restaurant and hospitality workers as they struggle to make ends meet.

One of those is the Restaurant Workers Relief Program, which launched a relief center at Great Bagel & Bakery on Boston Road to provide meals, pantry and household items seven days a week to restaurant industry workers in need.

The effort is a partnership between the LEE Initiative, founded by Louisville- and Washington D.C.-based chef Edward Lee, along with LexUnite and a financial investment by Maker’s Mark.

Creation Gardens and Aramark have also donated food to lower costs, according to Samantha Fore, one of the program’s coordinators.

Theresa Stanley Samantha Fore

Fore, chef/owner of Lexington pop-up restaurant Tuk Tuk Sri Lankan Bites, has also been busy helping the Restaurant Workers Relief Program launch 14 locations nationwide in its first 10 days, including sites in Atlanta, Los Angeles and Louisville, with more on the way.

Fore said, with all the uncertainty and upheaval, restaurant workers are mostly feeling shell-shocked, but the program is there to help lessen their mealtime worries.

“It’s been a massive community effort,” Fore said. “I’m amazed. People have loaned out equipment, supplies and food. This has been a real example of our community surrounding each other and making a group effort. The LEE Initiative is the umbrella, but we are all getting it done for our city.”

“I’m amazed. People have loaned out equipment, supplies and food. This has been a real example of our community surrounding each other and making a group effort." —Samantha Fore, chef/owner Tuk Tuk Sri Lankan Bites

In its first week, in late March, Fore said the Lexington program served between 200 and 300 people during designated pickup hours of 5 to 7 p.m. And, with seasoned food industry volunteers and a handful of paid employees, the meals dished out are hot, hearty and tasty.

In addition to its carry out business, Bluegrass Hospitality Group is also using its kitchens to prepare meals for healthcare professionals, first responders and essential retail employees throughout the community. In an effort to reach as many people as possible, the restaurant group is teaming up with businesses and individuals who want to help by providing a meal for $15, or sponsoring an event for the group of their choice.

On April 1, an initiative to help displaced hospitality workers was announced called Nourish, a partnership between FoodChain, the E.E. Murry Family Foundation, Keeneland and VisitLEX, with donors including the Lavin Family Foundation and the Jenna and Matthew Mitchell Family Foundation.

The program combines the efforts of “local chefs, businesses, farms, funders and nonprofit agencies in order to feed our hungry community members,” according to a press release.

Food service workers can receive $60 per four-hour shift preparing and delivering meals to hospitality industry families and others in need, including seniors in affordable housing apartment complexes and families identified by family resource coordinators.

Distribution points have also been set up at FoodChain’s kitchens at the corner of Jefferson and West Sixth Streets, and the Whitaker Bank Ball Park. Since the program began March 17, FoodChain has distributed nearly 22,000 scratch-made meals and counting through Nourish. Donations to the Emergency Food Fund are being accepted through foodchainlex.org.

For its part, Keeneland donated 1,500 pounds of food to the program, as well as 100 percent of all online sales from its two retail shops in April.

Fore said the economic costs of the coronavirus crisis became readily apparent as thousands of people were laid off at once and suddenly left scrambling to pay the rent or mortgage, utilities and other monthly expenses.

In the past, service industries were always quick to step up and donate to a variety of community fundraisers and events, and now they need the help, Fore said.

She said what she wants restaurant professionals to know during this difficult time is “that we’re here for them and there are always going to be resources out there to help them. They won’t be forgotten. We’re the lifeblood of this town.”

Donations of food and nonperishable goods for the Restaurant Workers Relief Program can be dropped off at Great Bagel & Bakery or monetary donations made via www.leeinitiative.org.

For more information about Nourish and how you can help through donations, food prep and delivery, visit them on the web at www.nourishlexington.org.