In response to strict mitigation efforts that continue to severely impact the hospitality industry, the Visit Champaign County (VCC) Foundation will relaunch their Hospitality Relief Fund during the holiday season.
The Foundation is seeking nominations from business owners or general managers from businesses with hospitality workers in food & beverage, lodging, event venues, and attractions.
The VCC Foundation Hospitality Relief Fund will provide monetary donations to employees in the hospitality industry who have been either displaced or facing significantly reduced hours. The overall amount of fund donations will determine how many employees will be able to be recognized through a lottery system.
“As we continue to see mitigation efforts in place in order to maintain the safety of our residents, we also see businesses close their doors or reduce staffing to meet these challenges,” states Jayne DeLuce, President & CEO of Visit Champaign County and the Visit Champaign County Foundation. “While we know we can’t solve these challenges, we’re proud to once again be able to offer our Hospitality Relief Fund to provide some assistance to our hospitality heroes that have lost their jobs or have severely reduced hours, especially during the holidays.”
The VCC Board and VCC Foundation Board of Directors will provide initial funds to be used. Donations are also encouraged from the community to offer further financial support to our neighbors, who work on our behalf to serve residents and welcome visitors from around the world. Donations are currently being accepted through PayPal at visitchampaigncounty.org/hospitalityrelief.
In April 2020, the VCC Foundation reallocated event expenses for the cancelled 2020 Toast to Tourism celebration to create a Hospitality Relief Fund to provide direct financial support for former hotel employees who had immediately formerly worked in the greater Champaign County area as housekeepers, caterers, cooks, front desk staff or anywhere in our hotel partner operations.
Over $12,000 was raised thanks to matching funds from the Champaign-Urbana Hotel Lodging Association (CUHLA) to provide financial assistance to 42 displaced employees at each of our current hotel partners. Funding was provided through private organizational or individual donations to the Visit Champaign County Foundation lead by efforts from the VCCF and VCC Board members themselves.
“While we hope to help numerous hospitality workers during this time, we strongly encourage residents to support our local restaurants and shops so we can keep our Outside of Ordinary businesses alive,” adds DeLuce.
For more info, contact Jayne DeLuce at jayned@visitchampaigncounty.org or 217-714-3540.