3 Tucson Restaurants' Staff Get Helping Hand Amid Pandemic

TUCSON, AZ — A Tucson nonprofit is working to support the staff members of three restaurants affected by the new coronavirus. The nonprofit, A Light Network, says Gentle Ben's, Nook and Borderland Brewery have all helped them raise money for Tucson causes, and they're returning the favor.

When A Light Network asked the owners of the three restaurants that they were planning on offering a hand, the owners all directed that help to their employees, many of whom are going through hard times due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Here's what the restaurant owners said, according to the GoFundMe page:

Richard Fifer, co-owner of Gentle Ben’s Brewery, responded simply “can we have ours go the employees” when I reached out to him letting him know we wanted to raise funds for his company.

Kristin Thompson, co-owner of Nook Downtown, said “our staff is our family, and we won’t go down without a fight.”

Es Teran, owner of Borderlands Brewing Co., simply nodded and offered any assistance we needed to help support his team.

"These are owners who truly care about their employees. These are locally owned and operated businesses that are vital to the Tucson community. These are the places that make our Tucson community so amazing," A Light Network said in their GoFundMe campaign.

At publishing time, the one-day-old GoFundMe campaign to help Tucson restaurant staff has raised $650 of their $60,000 goal.