‘We know it’s needed’: Idaho charity hands out holiday meals to Boise restaurant workers
There’s no question that 2020 has been a tough year for most everyone, and employees in the restaurant business have been hit especially hard.
After closures because of the coronavirus pandemic, restaurants were able to return, but only with spaced-out tables and social distancing, which means way less volume of customers. And the surge in COVID-19 cases the past few months has been a reason for many to refrain from congregating, let alone going out to eat.
That’s why numerous volunteers from St. Vincent de Paul of Southwest Idaho could be found in downtown Boise on Wednesday afternoon, filling bags of food to hand out this Christmas to servers, cooks, bartenders and anyone else in the food-service industry who has been hurting in recent months.
“Obviously restaurants are experiencing a huge drop in business,” said Dylan Eller, a server at Bittercreek Alehouse on 8th Street. “As COVID numbers go up, people are less inclined to go to a restaurant.”
The Wednesday food giveaway was the culmination of a conversation between Eller and St. Vincent de Paul Overland food pantry manager Chris Martinez. One of Eller’s family members connected him with Martinez, and in less than a week, the food distribution event came together for the holidays.
“We’ve moved fast to make this happen,” said Ralph May, St. Vincent de Paul’s executive director.
As food rolled down a conveyor belt, volunteers sorted rolls, meat and sides into packages to give out to restaurant workers. Inside each pack was a full holiday meal, ready to be shared. Santa Claus himself even stepped in to help the volunteers.
Organizers picked an early afternoon distribution time — 2 to 4 p.m. — to try to catch workers as they were either leaving an early shift or arriving for the night shift. In total, the food pantry had 600 meals to hand out before the event was done, according to May, and restaurant employees were welcome to come by and pick one up.
As the afternoon went on, volunteers actually went door-to-door around downtown Boise, trying to make sure everyone who wanted a bag full of food could get one. Some workers made multiple trips to and from the 8th Street corridor and the core downtown area, grabbing an extra bundle or two to give to colleagues still on the clock.
The minimum wage for tipped employees in Idaho is only $3.35 an hour, meaning servers and bartenders rely heavily on tips — which are taxed — to make ends meet. With less capacity in restaurants, there are fewer customers and not as many work shifts to go around, and that means much smaller paychecks, Eller said.
“While we’re seeing that drop in pay, we haven’t seen a drop in rent,” said Eller, who indicated that he’s had paychecks that would barely cover the taxes on tips. “Unemployment for, at least a lot of people I know, ended this week.”
Many of those in the restaurant business are struggling, which is one reason why the food bank wanted to give out meals as soon as possible, May said. Despite the short notice, May said there was an outpouring of support.
“That’s the gratifying thing for us, is that we seized on this,” May said. “We said, ‘We know it’s needed,’ and other people have said the same thing.”
May added that this is one of St. Vincent de Paul’s mobile food pantries, which visit various communities to distribute to those who might not be able to get to the group’s Treasure Valley food banks. The organization is always taking donations, he said.
While Idaho’s coronavirus situation has shown signs of slight improvement, the state is far from being out the woods and returning to normal. Both May and Eller said they hope to have more events aimed at providing aid to restaurant workers, as well as people in other service industries that are hurting because of the pandemic.
“Restaurant workers particularly have suffered a lot through the pandemic, with people not being able to go to restaurants,” May said. “Pockets (of people) who are hurting, we’d sure like to know about it, because if we can, we’re going to reach out ... That’s our goal, is to be responsive through this COVID crisis and reach out to the people who are hurting.”
