Tolland Restaurant Getting Pandemic Business Aid

TOLLAND, CT — The Connecticut Restaurant Association and DoorDash Friday announced the recipients of the Connecticut Restaurant Relief Fund program provided through the DoorDash Main Street Strong effort. In the first wave, 92 Connecticut restaurants have been selected to receive $5,000 grants.

Monet's Table in Tolland is among them.

The recipients are some of Connecticut’s hardest hit restaurants, representing all eight counties and 57 different towns and cities.

The grants are being administered by the Connecticut Hospitality Educational Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Connecticut Restaurant Association.

The funds will be used to cover operating costs during this challenging time, including rent, payroll, purchasing PPE, expanding outdoor dining capacity, and other expenses.

"The restaurant industry has been hit so hard over the past year, and it’s critical we save as many local restaurants as possible so they can be part of Connecticut’s post-COVID economic recovery," says Scott Dolch, Executive Director of the Connecticut Restaurant Association. "We are proud to partner with DoorDash and plan to start mailing checks to selected restaurants next week, exactly one year from the state mandated shutdown of in-person dining. It is our hope that this grant along, with other funding from the state and federal resources, will help our state’s restaurants keep their doors open, keep employees working, and keep serving customers while they continue to recover from this pandemic."

Restaurants have faced unprecedented challenges over the past year, said said Katie Witman, the senior policy adviser for DoorDash.

“It is our hope that these grants will help restaurants as they continue to navigate the challenges posed by the COVID-19 crisis," she said.

She said the grants are a part of DoorDash’s five-year, $200 million Main Street Strong Pledge to "empower local communities," which included a $10 million grant program effort across select cities, states, and counties in the U.S. and Canada, of which Connecticut received $500,000 earlier this year.

During the first round of DoorDash’s Main Street Strong pandemic relief grants in 2020, 85 percent of restaurants stated that one of the biggest impacts on their business was reduced sales due to virus restrictions and 82 percent cited lost revenue attributed to the "declining economy."