Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Thursday, September 26, 2024 87° Today's Paper


Crave

Give to support Hawaii workers

The Kokua Restaurant Workers Fund has six days left in its drive to raise $250,000 to assist employees struggling during the coronavirus shutdown.

The Hawai‘i Food & Wine Festival, which launched the fund two months ago, estimates that 80% to 90% percent of local restaurant workers have lost their jobs or are facing reduced hours.

The fund provides Visa cards of $250 for those workers to use on meals at local restaurants. So far $143,350 has been raised, enough to provide assistance to 573 workers, just 29% of those who applied for help.

The goal is to raise enough to provide for 1,000 workers by the end of the campaign on June 30.

Donate through the festival’s website, HawaiiFoodandWine Festival.com.

The fund has been fueled by a video campaign, “Aloha Challenge,” that built on the celebrity of star chefs nationwide. The chefs made videos of themselves lip-syncing the Mana‘o Company song “A-L-O-H-A.”

See the videos on Instagram, tagged #kokuaforrestaurants.

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