New initiative gives hot meal to hospitality workers in need

The effort provides hospitality workers affected by the virus with one free meal per weekday at one of the group's partner restaurants.

Posted 2:00 p.m. Apr 17, 2020 — Updated 2:00 p.m. Apr 17, 2020

Kathy Hanrahan, Out

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RALEIGH, N.C. — When entrepreneur Gaurav "G" Patel saw restaurants and bars closing due to the coronavirus pandemic, he knew he wanted to help.

A veteran of the hospitality industry, Patel launched "Hope for Hospitality" at the beginning of April. The effort provides hospitality workers affected by the virus with one free meal per weekday at one of the group's partner restaurants.

"I was sitting at the construction site of our new concept, Killjoy, on Northwest Street and I was like, I gotta do something," Patel said. "The plan was to just call a couple of friends who I know in the business and get them to...commit to X amount of meals to just help industry individuals."

So far, the effort's partners include Jake Wood and his upcoming Lawrence Barbecue restaurant, Virgil's Original Taqueria, Mulino Italian Kitchen & Bar, Raleigh Beer Garden, Cantina 18, Diced, Sullivan's and State of Beer.

Those wanting to sign up for meals can go to Patel's website for more information.

In addition to meals, Patel has also started a GoFundMe to help raise money for participating restaurants to use for their staff members or other critical needs.

"I wanted to make sure that we had a safe place for them to go grab a meal if they needed to and just enjoy quality product," Patel said. "Hopefully they'll spread the love and spread the word on the restaurants that are open and get some additional people going to there. So my goal was always to create a win-win scenario for everybody cause everybody's struggling."

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