DOORDASH AND VRLTA PARTNER TO PROVIDE $450,000 IN FUNDS FOR VIRGINIA RESTAURANTS AND OFFER NEW BENEFITS TO VRLTA MEMBERS
DoorDash’s latest Main Street Strong effort will support restaurants as they continue to recover from the COVID-19 crisis
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA – DoorDash today announced a new $450,000 grant program for Virginia restaurants in partnership with the Virginia Restaurant, Lodging & Travel Association (VRLTA). The contribution is part of DoorDash’s $200 million, 5-year Main Street Strong Pledge, which includes a $10 million effort to help restaurants in select cities across the United States and Canada.
“Virginia’s restaurants have faced unprecedented challenges the past year,” said Eric Terry, VRLTA President. “DoorDash’s donation to the state’s restaurant relief efforts will offer much-needed help to small businesses. We are pleased to partner with them on this important work and hope that this ensures additional Virginia restaurants survive the remainder of this crisis.”
“Restaurants and hospitality businesses have made tremendous sacrifices during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Governor Ralph Northam. “Many restaurants have pivoted to delivery and takeout to continue serving their communities while keeping Virginians safe. I applaud the efforts of DoorDash and VRLTA who are contributing to the ongoing federal, state, and local efforts to provide much-needed relief and help these important small businesses stay afloat.”
“DoorDash’s mission is to empower local economies. The success of restaurants is central to that goal,” said David London, Director of U.S. Government Relations, East, DoorDash. “We’ve seen the immense challenges restaurants have faced over the past year as they’ve navigated serving communities throughout the COVID crisis and are proud to help support Virginia restaurants through the ongoing challenges.”
The program will be administered by VRLTA, with assistance from local partners across the Commonwealth, including Open Norfolk. VRLTA will manage the application and selection processes as well as the distribution of funds. Grants of $3,500 will be awarded, and recipients will be chosen by judges from the restaurant and tourism industries. The judges will ensure grants are distributed across Virginia and prioritize businesses which have not benefited from other financial assistance. In addition, a minimum of 20% of the grants will be earmarked to minority-owned and/or women-owned businesses.
Applications will be available on the VRLTA website from February 4, 2021 to March 1, 2021, and grants will be distributed to selected restaurants by the first week of April. Applicants must meet the following eligibility requirements:
- • Independently owned with no more than three locations
- • Currently has at least one location open and operating as a food service establishment in Virginia, with a brick-and-mortar location
- • Annual gross revenue of $3 million or less (for the single restaurant applying)
- • 50 or fewer employees (at the single restaurant applying)
- • Experienced a reduction in revenue, financial stress, or disrupted operations over the period of March 2020 through December 2020 when compared to the same period in 2019 as a result of COVID-19
In addition, DoorDash and VRLTA are partnering to offer VRLTA members savings on DoorDash’s Storefront, which allows restaurants to easily create a branded online store to enable pickup and delivery ordering directly from the restaurant website, commission-free. For VRLTA members with five locations or fewer, software fees are waived through March 31, 2021.VRLTA members who become new DoorDash partners will also benefit from 0% commission for the first 30 days.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, DoorDash has taken significant active steps to ensure the safety of our entire community, including:
- • Main Street Strong Pledge committing $200M over five years to support restaurants, Dashers, and the broader community