Restaurant tech company Toast just announced it has set up a fund to support restaurants and restaurant workers as COVID-19 spreads and businesses are forced to close in response.
The fund comes in the form of Rally for Restaurants, an online directory of restaurants nationwide. Users can search the directory, choose a restaurant, and donate to that business by purchasing one (or several) gift cards. Toast said in an email that it will match up to $250,000 in contributions.
Right now there are over 18,000 restaurants listed on the platform from cities large and small across the U.S. Many more can be added, of course. Currently there are over 600,000 restaurants in the U.S., and many of them independent businesses whose very livelihoods are at stake right now.
Restaurants that are not currently on the platform can submit their business here. If you’re a customer who just happens to love a particular restaurant you don’t see listed, you can submit it here. Toast will confirm the restaurant’s information with the business itself before adding it to the platform.
Separate from the fund, Toast also said it has eliminated software fees for restaurant customers for the next month and will provide those customers with free access to its digital ordering, marketing, and gift card programs for three months. Additionally, the company has set up an online resource center that includes content on how to manage the changes currently sweeping across the restaurant industry.
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