Angel Relief Fund eases hardships for restaurant workers across Colorado
Colorado Restaurant Foundation offers support for restaurant workers across the state. The foundation offers skills development and career advancement opportunities. It also administers the Angel Relief Fund, which provides grants to restaurant workers who are experiencing a hardship.
In July, when smoke billowed across the southern Colorado sky and flames scorched 102,000 acres, Amy Milne watched and waited.
"It was really scary," she told CBS News Colorado.
For six years, Milne has worked as a cook in the Round Table Restaurant & Grill at the Holly Dot Golf Course in Colorado City. The city was right in the path of Aspen Acres wildfire.
"We knew that we were on pre-evacuation," she said.
Then one day during a regular shift, the call came. It was time to evacuate.
"I was in the middle of making croutons, and they never got in the oven," Milne recalled.
Not only was she worried for the restaurant and her house, Milne was anxious about her finances.
"Right now, we're on a very tight budget, and every single dollar counts, so even one day missed is hard, even just one day," she explained.
That's when Milne turned to the Angel Relief Fund.
"The Angel Relief Fund is a fund that supports employees in the restaurant industry experiencing unusual hardship," said Laura Shunk, president of the Colorado Restaurant Foundation. "It's really about getting somebody kind of over that initial hump of needing to deal with this disaster."
The Angel Relief Fund provides grants of $500 and $1,000. Milne got $1,000.
"It was great because the bills were there, and the income was not," she said.
Milne is back to work now feeding her community as it heals.
"The community is doing really well. It was really fun. A few weeks ago, we were out by the road saying, 'Thank you,' to all the firefighters as they drove by. It was really heartwarming and wonderful because they really saved our town."
Proceeds from the Denver Food + Wine Festival go to the Angel Relief Fund as well as funding all the work done by the Colorado Restaurant Foundation. The Denver Food + Wine Festival runs Aug. 26 29 at the Tivoli Quad on the Auraria Campus.
