Nancy Farrar
There’s nothing like a group of powerful entities joining forces for a common goal. Take the Justice League, X-Men, or even the Fantastic Four for example. When like-minded individuals join forces, there are more options available. This exact scenario played out in real time when the Fort Worth Food + Wine Foundation (FWFWF) announced its new partnership with the Southern Smoke Foundation (SSF), a renowned nationwide non-profit. Together these two foundations are dedicated to helping food and beverage workers in crisis by providing them with a little financial leeway in times of crisis. This even means access to no-cost mental health services.
To show how committed the FWFWF is to this initiative, it gifted $25,000 to SSF this July. These funds will be available to culinary industry workers in need of emergency relief across Tarrant County, according to a release. This gift, along with the continued support from these foundations is in response to the recent worldwide financial and health crises.
"Individual financial emergency support is crucial for workers in an industry who often find themselves without a safety net,” said FWFWF co-founder Russell Kirkpatrick. “We initially started our Emergency Relief Fund program in response to COVID-19 in 2020. Now, nearly four years later, the foundation has realized the need continues for ongoing emergency response and so much more!”
So far, the FWFWF has allotted more than 100K in emergency assistance grants to the culinary community in Fort Worth. The SSF, on the other hand, has granted over 12.1 million to food and beverage workers across the nation since 2015. But SSF goes further than helping these industry workers with their emergency healthcare needs. Groceries, and housing costs are also included in this equation.
SSF
The SSF’s Behind You program also provides free mental health services through university affiliates, recently partnering with the University of North Texas. The foundation also supports families, single parents, and adjusts to changing regulations to provide assistance nationwide.
“Our team is working to refocus our efforts on the funding for restaurant growth and innovation and expansion of chef festival participation,” Kirkpatrick added. “This new partnership with Southern Smoke Foundation allows us to connect national resources with our local community to ensure that chefs, restaurateurs, and beverage workers in our county are getting access to year-round, immediate support. FWFWF will continue to raise funds locally and be good stewards of those generous donations and ensure they stay in our neighborhood."
This partnership is expected to help out two-fold with FWFWF taking on the local food and beverage worker’s needs and SSF taking on the national ones. Food and beverage workers across North Texas and the broader southwest region in need are encouraged to seek immediate assistance from SSF’s extensive support network at southernsmoke.org. To support SSF’s efforts in North Texas, the foundation encourages supporters to donate to fwfwf.org and donate directly to the Southern Smoke fund.
"A partnership with Fort Worth Food + Wine Foundation makes all the sense in the world,” said James Beard Award-winning chef and founding director of SSF Chris Shepard. “I cooked at their festival a few years ago, and we’re so like-minded in the ways we take care of our communities and the food and beverage industry. I know this partnership will bring greater awareness about Southern Smoke Foundation to North Texas food and beverage workers so they can utilize both our emergency relief and mental health resources. We’re proud to work with FWFWF to take care of our own.”
