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Coronavirus: Restaurant Employee Relief Fund expected to take applications today after application website crashes

By Natalie Dreier, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
By Natalie Dreier, Cox Media Group National Content Desk

Many restaurant workers have found themselves out of a job as the country continues to practice social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

But with restaurants going dark while everyone stays home, either by choice or by order of their state government, those workers were suddenly without pay.

The National Restaurant Association has set up the Restaurant Employee Relief fund to give grants of $500 per person to anyone who is eligible and applies.

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But not all is going as planned. The server hosting the application process couldn’t take the traffic and was quickly overwhelmed, according to a message on the group’s Twitter page.

“We are deeply humbled by and grateful for the opportunity to provide support to restaurant employees. Almost immediately after opening the application process, extremely high user volume overwhelmed the application platform. We are continuing to upgrade our system to improve site functionality and expand capacity," the group said on the application website.

To be eligible, workers had to work either part-time or full-time for at least 90 days in the past year with their primary income coming from the restaurant industry. They had to either have a decrease in wages or job loss on or after March 10. The money can be used for rent or mortgage payments, car payments or other transportation costs, utilities, child care, student loans, groceries or medical bills, the group said on its website.

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The association said those in need of help should check back at noon EST Monday for an update.

Guy Fieri is one of the restaurant owners and operators trying to give back to industry workers. He said the goal of the group is to get $100 million in donations, ABC News reported when his participation was announced last week.

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Experts say five to seven million restaurant workers could be out of work over the next three months, according to ABC News.

Chris Shepherd Chris Shepherd, a James Beard award-winning chef who owns four restaurants in Houston, seasons short ribs at his Georgia James restaurant Wednesday, March 25, 2020, in Houston. For Shepherd, it's been "an all-out hustle" to survive after local officials limited restaurants to takeout and delivery, a business environment that has become the temporary new normal for most eateries across the U.S. during the coronavirus outbreak. But survival has meant Shepherd's had to make tough, emotional choices, including closing three of his four restaurants and furloughing most of his 170 hourly workers, people he considers family. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip) (David J. Phillip/AP)

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