DoorDash and Hello Alice Restaurant Disaster Relief Fund

Donor: DoorDash, Hello Alice

About: The Restaurant Disaster Relief Fund, a collaborative initiative by DoorDash and Hello Alice aims to provide essential support to restaurants affected by natural disasters, severe weather events, or major infrastructure failures. This fund is designed to help restaurants recover and rebuild by offering $10,000 grants to cover operating expenses such as rent, mortgage payments, food and beverage inventory, utilities, supplies, materials, and supplier costs.

The fund was established to address the significant financial burden that disasters impose on small businesses, with nearly 40% of them unable to reopen following such events. By providing timely financial assistance, the Restaurant Disaster Relief Fund helps keep restaurant doors open and communities thriving.

Since its inception in 2021, the fund has distributed over $1.8 million in grants to more than 180 local restaurants across the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The grants have been crucial in helping restaurants recover from various disasters, including wildfires, hurricanes, and cyclones.

The application process for the Restaurant Disaster Relief Fund is straightforward. Eligible restaurants can apply through the Hello Alice platform, where they will also find additional resources and support. The fund operates on a rolling basis, with specific application rounds and deadlines announced throughout the year.

Focus: Restaurants, Gastropubs, Bakeries, Natural Disaster Relief, Severe Weather Events, Infrastructure Failures, Small Business Support, Community Recovery

Region: United States, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Australia, New Zealand, Canada

Eligibility:
-Be a restaurant located and registered in one of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia, or Puerto Rico.
-Be a restaurant, gastropub, or bakery with a brick & mortar location that has experienced a loss in revenue as a direct result of a natural disaster, severe weather event, or major infrastructure failure that occurred within the last 12 months declared a disaster by the state, tribal, or federal government.
-Operate a brick-and-mortar location.
-Own a maximum of three locations, and employ fewer than 50 employees per location.
-Have been open for at least six months.
-Have revenues of $3M or less per location in the last 12 months.
-For restaurants based in Australia, New Zealand or Canada, you may be eligible for a grant through another portion of the fund.

Benefits:
-Grants of $10,000 to cover operating expenses such as rent, mortgage payments, food and beverage inventory, utilities, supplies, materials, and supplier costs.

Terms:
-DoorDash: A technology company that connects customers with their favorite local and national businesses in more than 7,000 cities across the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand through its local logistics platform.
-Hello Alice: A free, multichannel platform that helps businesses launch and grow. With a community of more than 800,000 business owners in all 50 states and across the globe, Hello Alice is building the largest network of owners in the country while tracking data and trends to increase the success rate for entrepreneurs.