Article

Restaurants make great strides in putting victims back to work

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina many restaurants are proving that statistic to be true whether through financial gifts, percentage of sale promotions, employee giving campaigns or other programs.

September 12, 2005

Paula Forbs got into her car Sunday night and drove as far away from New Orleans and the path of Hurricane Katrina as possible.Sixteen hours later she, along with her family, arrived at a cousin's home in Texas, where they found a warm place to sleep and food to eat - a sharp contrast to the home she left behind."We left before they raised the bridges and it got hard to leave the city," recalls Forbs, who is not sure if she will return to her home in the Industrial Canal area.Despite losing so much Paula was able to find the one thing that's been with her for the last three years in New Orleans - her job with Popeyes."Once I got to Texas I started making phone calls and searching the web," says Forbs, "and that's how I found them.""We have been diligently working to locate all of our employees through several communication means, including a dedicated phone bank, public service announcements and website postings - but as you can imagine this is a tremendously challenging process, however we will preserve together," says Chief People Services Officer, Stan Stout."Popeye's has a three pronged approach to assisting our impacted employees - communication, payment of wages and redeployment, explains Stout."We put an all-call to our franchise operators across the country and many of them immediately offered positions to Popeye's employees impacted by the storm, some operators even offered to pay temporary housing and to pay travel expenses to markets diverse as San Francisco and Puerto Rico. It's been incredible to see the Popeye's family quickly come to the aide of one another," adds Stout.Todd Stafford, a franchisee, and part of the Popeyes family, with 12 stores in Texas has 2 hurricane families living with him and has been working to help find displaced employees jobs."I've been receiving calls on the 800# by managers with people looking for jobs - so far I've hired 5 including Paula.""Popeyes has a great heritage - we're proud of that heritage and doing all we can to help out," adds Stafford.Popeyes Chicken & Biscuit has 800 employees and 33 franchise operators in the areas impacted by Hurricane Katrina, 90-100 of their restaurants closed due to the storm."So far we've been able to account for 40-50% of our workforce," says Communications Manager Kim Englehardt.Founded in 1972 in New Orleans the chain has already committed to relief efforts, pledging $2 million and plans to rebuild in its hometown when the time is right."Our hearts and prayers go out to the thousands of individuals and families whose lives have been shattered by Hurricane Katrina. Our first priority is our people, who bring our restaurants to life," says President and CEO Kenneth Keymer."We are committed to rebuilding the city of New Orleans and surrounding communities as soon as possible - when we do there will be available positions for individuals interested in working in our New Orleans restaurant," adds Keymer.At last count as many as 400,000 jobs may be lost due to Katrina. In Louisiana the restaurant industry is the state's largest private employer - with restaurants generating $5.2 billion in annual sales.Overall the restaurant industry impacts the U.S. economy with $1.2 trillion a year - approximately 10% of the GDP and nationwide restaurants employ 12.2 million people today.Restaurants are an important part of any community, having a significant impact not only on the economy, but the people that live in them. According to the National Restaurant Association, nine out of ten restaurants donate time, food, facilities and resources to charitable causes.In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina many restaurants are proving that statistic to be true whether through financial gifts, percentage of sale promotions, employee giving campaigns or other programs.YUM! Brands Inc: The world's largest restaurant company with brands including Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, KFC, Long John Silver and A&W Hamburgers is still assessing the damage its stores have incurred as a result of Hurricane Katrina.YUM Brands Inc. has been providing food to victims and rescue workers alike, including setting up mobile units."We are really proud of the way our associates have donated thousands upon thousands of meals to those in need," says Yums Brands spokesperson Virginia Ferguson."Additionally we've donated funds to the Red Cross and established a Yum! Family Fund to assist employees and franchisee teammates who have been directly affected by the hurricane."Brinker:Brinker International reported today that it has a total of 14 stores affected by the storm and expects to open again once power and water are available and necessary repairs have been made.The company has set up a toll-free number for employees at 800-717-2295 and is providing food to evacuees at shelters.More than 200 McDonald's stores were affected by the storm. The chain has created a $2 million matching fund and will continue to pay salaries for staff and restaurant employees displaced by the storm.In a recent statement the chain said it is, "Committed to providing jobs, reopening closed restaurants in the Gulf Coast as soon as possible as well as providing immediate employment opportunities in and outside of the affected areas."For those in need of assistance with shelter, food, water, financial and other needs contact McDonalds Service Center at 877-623-1955 24/7.With the largest response to a natural disaster that the Red Cross has handled in its 125-year history it's hard to find a restaurant that hasn't been impacted by Katrina.In an effort to bring all types of restaurants together to assist those that have lost their jobs the Southern Foodways Alliance has teamed up with www.cirajobs.com to assist in employee relocation. "I bet we're reaching 500+ restaurants via this call for help," says Mary Beth Lasseter with Southern Foodways Alliance."The responses include everything from a gentleman who owns a bunch of KFCs to another person in Philly willing to underwrite the building of a New Orleans food restaurant in his own city," adds Lasseter."Job opportunities are scattered throughout the country - postings are just getting started and we hope that announcements will grow over the coming days."Both the James Beard Foundation and the Council of Independent Restaurants (CIRA) are working together on a volunteer effort to solicit restaurants to provide both jobs and relocation expenses for displaced workers at www.jamesbeard.org and www.cirajobs.com.