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Guy Fieri reveals how he's helping restaurant workers during coronavirus crisis

Video by Becky Horvath With the coronavirus pandemic continuing, restaurants and the people who work in them have been hit particularly hard financially. Now, celebrity chef Guy Fieri wants to help. Fieri has partnered with the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation to help raise funds for workers who have found themselves unemployed and in dire financial straits. “We're going to try to get $500 to every employee,” he tells Yahoo Lifestyle from his home in Northern California, where he’s currently self-isolating with his family. The National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation estimates that between five and seven million restaurant workers may lose their jobs due to the pandemic. “I've been in the restaurant business my whole life,” says Fieri. “Never in a million years could I have anticipated, forecasted or believed this would ever take place,” he added. According to Fieri, 100% of donations from the Restaurant Employee Relief Fund will go to those in need. “No red tape, no B.S.,” he says. “They still have cell phone bills. They still have power bills. They still have food bills. They still have credit card bills. We're at a point now where I just—my heart breaks thinking of the hopelessness that people could start to experience,” says Fieri. He added, “Right now, the wind needs to swing toward the people that have been serving us for so many years. Now it's time for us to serve them.”

Video transcript

GUY FIERI: I've been in the restaurant business my whole life. I mean, I started washing dishes when I was 10, 12 years old. It's all I've ever done.

Never in a million years could have I had anticipated, forecasted, or believed that this would ever take place-- devastating.

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We closed 80% of the concepts that I am involved with. I know these team members, I know these people, I know these bus boys, servers, bartenders, line cooks. After two weeks of this, what are they going to do?

You've got people living paycheck to paycheck. We've got people that can't get unemployment. We're at a point now where I just-- my heart breaks thinking of the hopelessness that people could start to experience. Right now, the wind needs to swing towards the people that have been serving us for so many years. Now it's time for us to serve them.

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The website is rerf.us. One, it will give you an opportunity to donate, which we would love you to do that. And two, it gives the employees a chance to sign up to get the $500 grant.

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It's not everything in the world. But what it is, it's 500 bucks and it's recognition. It's 500 bucks and it's comfort. It's 500 bucks and it's establishing that the industry that they love, and all the people that are involved in it, care about them and are helping them.

PepsiCo jumped right on. Uber Eats, Constellation Brands, Ecolab, Moet, Hennessy, Cargill. We have reached $10 million in less than a week, in the midst of everybody trying to raise money for everything else. I'm so proud of the National Restaurant Association and all the partners that we have that we've been working closely with.

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If the restaurant's open in your community, please go get take out. Please go buy some gift certificates for future use. It's just really a time for everybody to do whatever they can, be it send positive messages of encouragement to their friends, raise money for their industry, whatever the case may be. But this seem like my best avenue to help and to also participate.

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Someone was just asking me the other day, when the light switch goes back on and everybody goes back to the restaurants, what you think is going to happen? I said, I think it's going to be phenomenal. There is something about going out to the restaurant or going to your local bar, that we have other connections to, and I think people are going to need that. People aren't needing it already.

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