Michiana business owners create fundraiser for restaurant and bar workers

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Several business owners in South Bend and Elkhart have created an online fundraiser for restaurant workers who are unemployed because of the coronavirus outbreak.

The fundraiser is called “South Bend-Elkhart Hospitality United” and you are encouraged to donate!

The group that organized the fundraiser is also selling t-shirt to raise money for the waiters, bartenders, cooks and busboys whose employment has been affected by the spread of the coronavirus.

Travis Parisi, the Director of Operations at Parisi’s Ristorante Italiano in South Bend, says that all the money raised will got the workers.

“100 percent of the proceeds will go to hourly workers in our local hospitality industry,” Parisi said. “Nothing goes to owners of restaurants, nothing goes to salaried workers, nothing goes to management staff or anything like that. It's all hourly people who are hurting right now.”

You can donate online by visiting the website for South Bend Elkhart Hospitality United.

T-shirts are being sold for $25.