Sales Team Local Market COVID-19 Philanthropic Support
Sharing Local Market COVID-19 Philanthropic Support
The coronavirus is having a historic effect on daily life around the world. Most states enacted local government policies over the past few months to combat the spread of coronavirus, including mandating many businesses temporarily close. Our friends in the hospitality community have been among the most affected during this time with the closing of bars and restaurants across the country.
Heaven Hill is doing our part to support those in the On-Premise who we partner with day-to-day to build our business. They are bar and restaurant owners that support our products, independent stores that stock our products and bartenders or servers that recommend our products to their customers. Working through our sales teams, we committed $250,000 to local non-profits that directly support members of the hospitality industry. Local sales teams worked together to distribute funds to organizations supporting the hospitality industry including On-Premise worker relief and response funds. We’re excited to share some of the contributions made by our sales team across the country.
Northeast Area Sales Team (Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island)
Together Richard Fiorillo, Rachel Machkowsky, Eric Larsen, Marc Sherman, and Sean Feely identified three organizations that are supporting the hospitality industry within their market. First, in Massachusetts Heaven Hill is supporting The Greg Hill Restaurant Strong Fund, which provides COVID-19 relief to hospitality workers in 20 states across the country. In the state of Massachusetts $930,956 of the $1,000.000 goal for the state has already been raised. In Rhode Island, the team contributed to the Rhode Island Hospitality Relief Fund which supports food service, tourism, and lodging employees who have been laid of due to COVID-19. Lastly,we donated to the Connecticut Hospitality Employee Relief Fund which provides immediate emergency funds to hospitality workers.
Mid-Atlantic Region (Delaware, Maryland, Washington D.C.)
Liz Townsend shared a contribution made in the Delaware market to the Delaware Restaurant Relief Association which support industry professionals through a charitable trust. The trust distributes individual $500 grants to front line industry employees during these uncertain times of mandated restaurant shutdowns. Liz says she selected this charity because they were able to quickly support front line hospitality employees at a rapid pace.
Additionally, the Maryland and Washington D.C. sales team including Frannie Leatherman, Jason Bradly, Liz Townsend, and Dave Hochrein chose to support two different groups. In D.C., the team supported Hook Hall Helps, which is a collaboration between an event space called Hook Hall and the Restaurant and Bar Association of Metropolitan Washington. This relief service provides meals and other essentials to the families of restaurant industry workers. In Maryland, the team supported the Baltimore Restaurant Relief Fund. This organization, formed by industry professionals provides micro-grants up to $500 to laid-off hospitality workers, provides grant assistance to restaurant owners to restart their businesses, and provides food, essential supplies, financial assistance, medical, and mental health services to laid-off hospitality workers.
New Jersey Sales Team
The New Jersey Sales Team including Emily Matos and Jon Scala contributed to the Beverage and Food Employee Crisis Support Fund as a Gold Level Sponsor. This organization was built in partnership with Allied Beverage, the New Jersey Restaurant Educational Foundation, and the New Jersey Restaurant and Hospitality Association to support local front house and back house employees in the beverage and food industry in times of personal crisis or national disaster.
New York Sales Team
The New York Sales Team madecontributions to several different organizations both local and national. First, a donation was made to CORE: Children of Restaurant Employees, a national organization dedicated to serving food and beverage service employees, with children, who have been medically diagnosed with COVID-19. Also on a national scale, a donation was made to the James Beard Foundation which launched the James Beard Foundation Food and Beverage Relief Funddedicated to supportingthe on-premise with micro-grants to independent businesses in need during this time. Finally, the New York team is supporting Another Round, Another Rally. Another Round, Anther Rally is a nonprofit financial resource for the hospitality industry providing reimbursement grants and immersive educational scholarshipsto further the education of underrepresented voices in the community. During this time, they are dedicated to supplying emergency assistance to those hospitality professionals who have fallen on unexpected hardship during this time.
On a local level, the New York team has made a donation to Relief Opportunities for All Restaurants (ROAR). This organization is comprised of 50 of NYC’s eateries and restaurant groups who have come together in partnership with the New York anti-poverty organization Robin Hood to provide grants of $500 to support food-service workers during this time.
Florida Sales Team
The Florida team including Rod Morse, Bryan Wood, Adam Sewell, Mark Kurtz, Amy Deming, Michelle Shaw, and Jessica Zamora chose to support two different organizations as well, one national and one local.
On a national scale, the team donated to Core Gives, an organization supporting families, with children, of food and beverage service employees navigating a medical diagnosis, illness, surgery, injury or a family death in the same household that would keep them away from work. The team chose this organization because they felt it was important to support the families of food and beverage employees during this time.
On a local scale, the Florida team chose to support the SOBEWFF & FIU Chaplin School of Hospitality Industry Relief Fund. This organization provides immediate financial support to independently owned and operated restaurants and bars in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties. The team chose this organization because as an independently family-owned and operated company they felt it was important to support other independently owned businesses during this time.
North Carolina & Virginia Sales Team
The sales team in North Carolina and Virginia have supported three organizations thus far. In Virginia, a contribution was made to the Virginia Restaurant and Hospitality Relief Fund, which provides support for the local hospitality community effected by COVID-19. Governed by the Virginia Restaurant Lodging & Travel Association Educational Foundation, and managed through The Virginia Restaurant, Lodging & Travel Association, the fund will be providing direct cash support to workers that have been laid off or businesses that have been affected due to the recent COVID19-related business downturn in Virginia.
In North Carolina, a contribution was made to the North Carolina Restaurant Workers Relief Fund. Governed by The North Carolina Hospitality Education Foundation and managed through the North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association Foundation, the fund will provide immediate financial assistance to the tens of thousands of cooks, servers, dishwashers, housekeepers, and others who live paycheck-to-paycheck, and suddenly find themselves in distress. Additionally, the North Carolina team is supporting the United States Bartenders’ Guild chapter in Charlotte, NC. The team is supporting continued education by hosting virtual training sessions featuring Heaven Hill products and cocktails.
South Carolina Sales Team
The South Carolina Teampledged to utilize Heaven Hill’s philanthropic donation with Feed The Need South Carolina. Feed the Need joined forces with the “Pay it Forward” program to support hospitality professionals during this time. Both charitable organizations were founded by longtime Food & Beverage community heroes and legends Mickey Bakst, John Zucker, and Michael Shemtov. All of them continually drive to make a positive impact in our community and have now focused their collective efforts to make a difference in the daily lives of our deeply affected food and beverage family members during this difficult time. Charleston is the mecca of the hospitality industry and the most tragically hit by this Covid-19 pandemic. The team is pleased to have donated funds in order to help Feed the Need & Pay it Forward to provide over 10,000 bags of meals for the numerous food and beverage employees impacted by the restaurant and bar closures.
Georgia Sales Team
The Georgia Sales Team donated the entirety of their allotted funding to Giving Kitchen. This organization is a Georgia-based non profit established in 2012 by a local hospitality industry worker who was diagnosed with cancer. Now, Giving Kitchen touches the entire state and provides emergency assistance to food service workers through financial support and a network of community resources. Thus far, Giving Kitchen has donated over $200,000 to hospitality workers affected by COVID-19.
Western Division Sales Teams
The Western Division Sales Teams have been hard at work identifying organizations to support using their allotted funds:
First, the California team including Jon Scriven, Tom Curtin, Mike Hall, Nicole O’Neill, Rob MacGergor, Gabe Zoccoli, and Jack Choate have established contributions three separate organizations – Restaurant Cares, an organization run by the California Restaurant Association; C.U.E.S.A Cultivating a Healthy Food System, an organization dedicated to growing thriving communities through the power and joy of local food; and Art Beyond The Glass, an organization focused on promoting bartender’s artistic talents with a current focus on supporting bartenders affected by COVID-19.
The Colorado Sales Team including Tyler Tramuta, Christina O’Connor, Erin Geyer, Tyler Dingus, and John Smart have established contributions for the Colorado Bartenders Guild and Operation Family Meals/CHOW. The Colorado Bartenders Guild is focused on providing broad support for the bartending community in Colorado while Operation Family Meals is focused on providing meals to hospitality professionals and their families affected by COVID-19.
The Arizona Sales Team including Christina O’Connor, Tyler Tramuta, Nate Konyha & Jennifer Gratkins have established contributions for Another Round, Another Rally, an organization also supported by the New York Team.
The Washington Sales Team including Travis Zinkel, Matt Dannemiller, Heidi Kinne & Alexis Tworek have established contributions to Big Table, an organization with a mission of caring for the restaurant and hospitality industry by building community around shared meals and caring for those in crisis, transition, or falling through the cracks.
Finally, the Oregon Sales Team including Bill Jaeger & Matt Dannemiller have established contributions for Restaurant Workers Community Foundation, an organization currently focused on supporting individual restaurant workers, organizations serving restaurant workers in crisis, and providing zero-interest loans for restaurants to get back up and running.
We’re so excited and proud to have the opportunity to support our friends in the hospitality industry during this time. These are just a few examples of how our sales team is supporting local hospitality communities across the country. Our hope is that our efforts make a positive impact and illustrate our continued commitment to supporting the communities in which our employees work and live.
