APRON Inc. was created in 2011 to help provide financial relief to food and beverage industry workers in the Louisville, Kentucky metropolitan area who find themselves in need during times of crises.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, APRON Inc. has stepped up with a far greater volume of assistance to local workers than ever before.
Last week our friend and longtime Food & Dining Magazine contributor Michael L. Jones reported that APRON’s pandemic-era task was far from finished.
Gary Fox, president of Apron Inc., said restaurant closings and an omicron-fueled surge in Covid-19 infections over the last few weeks has led to an uptick in grant applications at his organization.
“Over the course of the summer it died down and we thought maybe we wouldn’t have to give out the COVID grants anymore,” Fox told Jones. “Then, of course, this new omicron came up and it’s all started again. A huge flood of applications have come in. We gave out three times more grants last week than we did in the whole month of December.”
You can read the story at Louisville Business First: Apron official: Relief applications from restaurant workers increased after Covid surge.
As a non-profit organization, APRON Inc. relies on donations and fundraisers to maintain its war chest. Next up for the organization is this Sunday’s (February 6) Chili Cook Off at Donum Dei Brewery in New Albany, located at 3211 Grant Line Road #3.
Donum Dei Brewery’s 4th annual chili cook-off on Feb. 6 benefits APRON Inc.
In 2022, APRON Inc.’s popular Chef in a Box program will be offered on a monthly basis, and Food & Dining Magazine will continue to provide previews. Our archive of past participants can be viewed here: Chef in a Box.
There’s also a new APRON Inc. fundraising program under development; as Fox explained to Jones, it’s a dining club, and restaurants are signing up now.
“The restaurants can decide what day they want us to fill say 12 tables,” Fox said. “We’ll be offering meals $50 a person, $25 would go to the restaurant and $25 will go to Apron. So, a meal for two in the restaurant would be $100 and it would be a nice three or four course meal.”
