TYLER, Texas — With most East Texans at home, residents are doing their part to help support local restaurants.
The East Texas Restaurant Association, East Texas Community Foundation and Smith County Medical Society created a fund that will help businesses owners while assisting the medical community.
“Restaurants’ business is off somewhere between 70% and 85%," East Texas Restaurants Association President Bob Westbrook said. "And so, being the largest private sector employer second only to healthcare, this gives each of the restaurants that are participating in this program an opportunity to continually keep their employees employed."
Bob Westbrook says the program works through online donations to the East Texas Community Foundation.
“The health worker support fund scrolls across the opening homepage and you just simply click on that," Westbrook said. "And then it will take you straight to the site to where you can type in your information.".
The donations pay for food needs identified by the Smith County Medical Society.
“Working off of the independent restaurant list that I provided the Smith County Medical Society Alliance," Westbrook explained. "Then what they'll do is they'll call the next restaurant that's on the list, whoever's up next, and then what they'll do is place the order and take care of payment at that time."
Westbrook says the program has already gained significant traction.
“Over the weekend, we raised over $2,000 in in private donations, and then we also have a corporate partner that I can't name just yet but has committed to $20,000,” Westbrook said.