Workers in Traverse City’s food service and hospitality industries are among the hardest hit, so The Good Bowl’s Soon Hagerty is doing something about it – and The Ticker is joining the cause.
 
In an effort to provide immediate assistance to those local workers, the owner of the downtown restaurant has launched The Good Bowl Hospitality Relief Fund, which will donate $1 per bowl sold to workers from Traverse City restaurants, bars, and hotels who’ve lost their jobs or are struggling financially due to the coronavirus.
 
The fund will launch today (April 1) in partnership with The Ticker, our sister publication Northern Express, and the Traverse City Downtown Development Authority, all of which are donating cash to seed the program. The fund will provide gift cards to individuals seeking financial assistance for day-to-day living expenses such as gas or groceries. The one-time individual gifts are meant to offer a lifeline to those most in need and will be disbursed on a weekly basis.
 
The Good Bowl’s management team will review requests each week and fulfill as many needs as weekly donation contributions allow.  The restaurant has also launched The Good Bowl Hospitality Relief GoFundMe page to help sustain the program over the next 90 days, and is also actively seeking a local grocery partner and other local businesses to contribute.
 
“Supporting charities has always been part of our DNA from day one, but with the massive impact of COVID-19 on the local hospitality industry, we wanted to find a way to provide immediate relief to service industry workers who can’t wait two to three months for help,” says Hagerty, The Good Bowl’s co-owner.
 
For more information on the program and to apply for help, click here.