DALLAS (WBAP/KLIF) – Many Downtown and Uptown Dallas business owners are taking precautions ahead of more potential protests over the death of a black man while in Minneapolis Police custody.
Demonstrations called for justice in the death of George Floyd which led to violence and destruction in Dallas over the weekend. Many store front windows were smashed and some businesses were looted. With the possibility of more protests throughout the week, some businesses are boarded up to prevent further damage.
“It looks kind of janky,” said Elizabeth Ging who owns a Victory Park bakery. “But it’s what has to be done to protect businesses. Even a broken window could put some businesses out of business.”
The Texas Restaurant Association is extending financial support through the TX Restaurant Relief Fund to independent restaurants that have been damaged by the vandalism, looting, and rioting. According to the TRA, the violence is another setback for restaurants, bars, and other food-service businesses that are still suffering crippling losses due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. The TRA launched the TX Restaurant Relief Fund in response to COVID-19, and now calls upon the entire community to redouble their support of the fund in response to this compounded crisis. 
Texas’ more than 53,000 food-service businesses, which employed more than 1.4 million workers before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, were closed with a day’s notice in March for more than six weeks to flatten the curve of COVID-19. In 2019, the Texas food-service sector accounted for $70 billion in revenue. Overnight, one of Texas’ largest sectors saw their revenue disappear, furloughed or laid off employees, and lost millions in perishable food and beverage supplies through no fault of their own. An estimated 700,000 jobs and $4.2 billion in revenue has been lost.
The TX Restaurant Relief Fund was established on March 23. In about two months, the fund has raised and distributed $2.23 million in grants of up to $5,000 to more than 400 restaurants. These grants provided immediate relief to some of the hardest hit, independent restaurants throughout the State, helping them to remain open, pay their workers, and in many cases, provide meals for medical, police, and fire first responders. As always, restaurants sought to give back, even as they faced the worst crisis their industry had ever seen.
While continuing to work toward its $10 million fundraising goal to support Texas’ independent restaurants impacted by the COVID-19 crisis, the TRA will expand the TX Restaurant Relief Fund’s mission to help independent food-service businesses vandalized during these riots.
Listen to Clayton Neville’s story below:
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