Kansas City-area independent restaurant workers may be eligible for $500 in relief funds

Some Kansas City area restaurant workers affected by the COVID-19 shutdown have a new source for help thanks to a $1 million donation.

Kemper family foundations donated the funds to the Missouri Restaurant Association Education Foundation. The group used the donation to establish the Independent Restaurant Workers Relief Fund.

The fund is now offering one-time $500 grants to industry employees who last worked for an independently owned and operated restaurant or small restaurant group in Missouri or in Johnson, Leavenworth and Wyandotte counties in Kansas. People who were furloughed, had their hours reduced or were laid off are eligible.

Go to morestaurants.org to apply for funds.

UMB Bank is covering administrative costs associated with the donation, so 100% of the money will go directly to the workers.

There are more than 300,000 restaurant workers in Missouri, making up about 10% of the state’s workforce, according to figures by the Missouri Restaurant Association.

Friday was server Kristal Ryan’s 53rd day on furlough. One son living at home is still in college and her daughter just graduated from high school. So Ryan is paying for groceries, gas and other bills with savings, unemployment and funds from the CARES Act. Many bills — pushed off for later at the beginning of the shutdown — will soon be due.

“I worked that Monday before the shutdown. Next thing I know we are out of jobs. How did it come to this so fast?” said Ryan, who has worked at Jasper’s restaurant in south Kansas City for five years. “We are all ready to go back to work, be on our feet and moving around. We’re social people. But we want to do it safely and in the right way. And there is no way to make it without these funds.”

Lauren Whitacre graduates from the Kansas City Art Institute next week. As a full-time student she lives paycheck to paycheck, trying to get as many hours at Rye restaurant on the Country Club Plaza that she can fit into her schedule.

Since she was furloughed in mid-March, she has been living on a little bit of savings, two grants from school, the stimulus check and unemployment.

“At this point any help counts. A lot of us are on the brink of not being able to pay rent,” she said. “It is really frightening for the future of everything, not knowing how much we will be making. ... So anything is super helpful for us.”

The Kemper family foundations said independent restaurants are suffering disproportionately in the COVID-19 crisis, as they often do not have the same access to capital or the corporate infrastructure to help navigate the ever-evolving situation.

In a statement, Mariner Kemper, co-trustee of the foundations, said: “As this public health emergency continues to develop, and shelter-in-place and stay-at-home orders close or limit restaurant operations, my family wanted to give where we could provide direct support to people whose livelihoods have been impacted.”

He hopes others will donate to the fund.

Last week, Kemper donated $1 million to the Colorado Restaurant Association, which also is using it for one-time grants of up to $1,000 for restaurant workers affected by the shutdowns.

This story was originally published May 8, 2020 at 1:40 PM.