Grant from Grubhub Community Fund to
increase funding and allow expansion
in organization's second year
supporting Black and Latin-owned culinary businesses
across the nation
HOUSTON, May 10, 2022
/PRNewswire/ -- According to the Independent Restaurant Coalition,
500,000 restaurants and bars face an uncertain future due to lost
revenue and increased debt over the past 22 months. 1.1
million minority-owned businesses often face heightened challenges
and disparities when securing business funding. To meet this
challenge and in its second year, Feed the Soul Foundation,
the non-profit arm of Black Restaurant Week, LLC, announced
their cohort program to support marginalized restaurant
entrepreneurs financially and professionally through the
Restaurant Business Development Grant Program.
Through the support of the Grubhub Community Fund‚ the
presenting program partner, Feed the Soul Foundation's grant
program will award 30 small businesses with $10,000.00 financial stipends and six months of
business development services as they prepare to navigate the
post-Covid world and the ever-changing consumer dining trends.
Founded by entrepreneurs Falayn Farrell, Warren Luckett and Derek
Robinson, the foundation increased its funding from the 2021
Restaurant Business Development Grant Program by $50,000 and expanded its reach to support
Latin-owned culinary businesses in addition to Black-owned culinary
businesses.
"Small businesses are still in recovery mode because of a
two-year long pandemic. It is our responsibility to ensure they are
not facing these hardships alone," says Falayn Ferrell, Chairwoman
of Feed the Soul Foundation and co-founder of Black Restaurant
Week. "Last year's program was extremely successful in the
revitalization of Black-owned culinary businesses, and we are more
than excited to expand our services to support additional
marginalized communities. We are deeply committed to providing
solutions to issues faced by restaurateurs such as human resources,
marketing, and operations."
Cohorts will work alongside subject matter experts and
consultants during the six-month program that will further their
growth and knowledge of the restaurant industry:
- Financial literacy training and Financial
Coaching
- Advertising and Marketing training
- One-on-One Business Development Consultation from industry
experts
The awarded cohort includes the following businesses:
- Aksum Café (Philadelphia,
PA)
- Alfreda's Soul (Houston,
TX)
- Blends Daiquiri Lounge (Dallas
TX)
- Brotherly Grub (Philadelphia,
PA)
- Cochinita & Co. (Houston,
TX)
- Cocobreeze Restaurant (Oakland,
CA)
- Cool Runnings Jamaican Restaurant (Daytona, FL)
- Deddle's Mini Donuts (Pikesville,
MD)
- Dos Hermanos Taco Truck (Columbus,
OH)
- England Eatery Café
(Baltimore, MD)
- Forsyth Seafood Market & Café (Winston-Salem, NC)
- Fruve xPress Juicery (Chicago,
IL)
- Gusto Gourmet (Houston,
TX)
- Jelana's Bake Shop (Hillsboro,
OR)
- Kina's Kitchen and Bar (Sonoma,
CA)
- Lakou Café (Brooklyn, NY)
- Miss Mamie's Spoonbread Too
(New York, NY)
- Original Rio Cristal Restaurant (Miami, FL)
- Sky's Gourmet Tacos (Los Angeles,
CA)
- Smoothie Express Miami Shores (Miami,
FL)
- Star Fusion Express (Philadelphia,
PA)
- Stuff'd Wings (Houston,
TX)
- Sweets by Belen (Houston,
TX)
- Tacotlan (Chicago, IL)
- The Missing Brick (Indianapolis,
IN)
- The Nourish Spot (Queens,
NY)
- Tsion Café (New York, NY)
- Underground Vegan (Birmingham,
AL)
- Windy City Ribs & Whiskey (Chicago, IL)
- Yo Soy Ceviche (San Francisco,
CA)
During its inception in 2020, Feed The Soul Foundation strived
to create a non-profit program that would provide sustainability
and growth in marginalized-owned businesses. In 2021, the
foundation celebrated the following milestones:
- 25 US-based Black-owned businesses received $250,000 in grants in addition to 6 months
of business development support valued at $190,000
- Established a National Emergency Relief Fund to aid culinary
businesses across the nation with $16,450 in emergency funds to assist with
unforeseen and natural disasters
- $25,000 awarded in
scholarships to minority hospitality students at Careers through
Culinary Arts Program and University of Houston Conrad N. Hilton College of Global
Hospitality Leadership
Feed the Soul Foundation will begin taking applications for the
2023 program in October. For more information about Feed the Soul
Foundation, please visit feedthesoulfou.org.
About Feed the Soul Foundation
Black Restaurant Week,
LLC established the Feed the Soul Foundation to aid marginalized
entrepreneurs in the culinary industry with business development
resources and support to foster sustainable business
growth. The goal of the Restaurant Business Development Fund
supports marginalized business owners with business development
scholarships and emergency funding.
About Grubhub
Grubhub is part of Just Eat Takeaway.com
(LSE: JET, AMS: TKWY), a leading global online food delivery
marketplace. Dedicated to connecting more than 32 million diners
with the food they love from their favorite local restaurants,
Grubhub elevates food ordering through innovative restaurant
technology, easy-to-use platforms and an improved delivery
experience. Grubhub features more than 300,000 restaurant partners
in over 4,000 U.S. cities.
View original content to download
multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/feed-the-soul-foundation-awards-300k-to-black-and-latino-owned-culinary-businesses-through-restaurant-business-development-grant-program-301543166.html
SOURCE Feed the Soul Foundation