Pittsburgh Restaurant Workers Aid - Food Distribution Center

Pittsburgh Restaurant Workers Aid provides resources and community support to low-wage restaurant and hospitality workers who have lost financial, housing, food, and healthcare security. Built as a coalition of service industry workers in response to the economic distress caused by COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, our goal is to create a mutual aid network that can address immediate needs, through this crisis and beyond, by distributing food, baby necessities, pet care items, cleaning and hygiene products, and small emergency cash grants.

Our Food Distribution Center acts as a hub to collect donations from community members and partner organizations, assemble care packages, serve meals, allow neighbors to pick up groceries, and send out volunteer drivers with deliveries.

Funds will pay for necessary cleaning and sanitation supplies to maintain a safe facility, packaging for safe food transportation, necessary requests that can not be filled by in kind donations (such as food for children with dietary restrictions), marketing to let our community know about our programs, fuel for volunteer drivers, facilities rental, and health department permits. These resources will aid low-wage neighbors to maintain food security for themselves and their families during times of need.

In response to the closure of dine-in facilities in Allegheny County on May 15th, we partnered with the Irma Freeman Center in Garfield to set up the Pittsburgh Restaurant Workers Aid Food Distribution Center. Since then, we have delivered close to 200 care packages to the front doors of low-wage restaurant workers in the region, from our next door neighbors to folks in neighboring counties.

On an average day we deliver 8 to 12 care packages to individuals and families who can not leave their homes, and help up to 30 families access free groceries, baby necessities, pet essentials, prepared meals, and other necessities. 

With an increased level of funding, we will be able expand our efforts and respond to more people in need during this crisis, as well as create a sustainable program to continue aid to the community as we recover. While the COVID-19 pandemic has brought food security to the forefront of our minds, accessing enough healthy food has been an issue among low-wage restaurant workers since before this virus, and will continue to affect many even after our industry returns to business as usual.

This current COVID-19 pandemic has shown the hospitality industry’s weakness and it’s strengths. Food security, housing stability, access to health care and paid leave, and many safety nets that support workers during crisis were lacking before this virus brought our livelihoods to a halt, and will likely continue to be out of reach for many long after our restaurants reopen. Yet our industry is built on caring for others, and we have rallied to support one another even as our collective resources are strained. Through reaching out to our greater community for support, the folks who eat at our tables and celebrate at our bars, the communities around us that benefit from the vibrant culture created in our dining rooms and on our stages, we will be able to better recover from these hard times and welcome our guests back with open arms.