NEW YORK, U.S. – Pernod Ricard North America today announced a $300,000 contribution to support the bartending community this holiday season. The grant is a partnership between U.S. affiliate Pernod Ricard USA and Canadian affiliate Corby Spirit and Wine Limited with the Restaurant Workers’ Community Foundation and the Bartenders Benevolent Fund. Since March, over 40 percent of restaurants in the U.S. have been forced to close their doors and over 800,000 bartenders, servers, hosts and kitchen staff in Canada have been put out of work.
The donation, drawn from holiday marketing dollars, acknowledges the responsibility of the wine & spirits industry to help on-premise professionals hard-hit by the global pandemic.
It builds on the $500,000 donation made by Pernod Ricard North America’s Jameson Irish Whiskey brand to the U.S. Bartenders’ Guild’s Bartender Emergency Assistance Fund on St. Patrick’s Day, as well as a $50,000 donation plus proceeds from a new coffee table book – “A Toast from Coast to Coast” – from Corby Spirit and Wine to the Bartenders Benevolent Fund.
“Our industry is only as resilient as our bartenders, so many of whom have lost their livelihoods to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said John Barrett, Chief Commercial Officer of Pernod Ricard North America. “While we prioritize responsible drinking for the holiday season, this year we are expanding our definition of ‘responsibility’ to include our commitment to support the professionals who need it most.”
The grant to the Restaurant Workers’ Community Foundation, a nationwide advocacy and action nonprofit, will support its efforts toward systemic change for workers in the hospitality industry, as well as the work of its COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund in providing relief to hospitality workers.
“Restaurants across the U.S. are once again cutting hours, suspending business or closing for good, leaving restaurant workers struggling with long-term loss of income,” said John deBary, Co-Founder and Board President of the Restaurant Workers’ Community Foundation. “This grant from Pernod Ricard North America will help us continue our mission to address structural solutions to the longstanding quality-of-life crisis facing the hospitality industry, as well as provide immediate emergency financial assistance to workers affected by the pandemic.”
The Bartenders Benevolent Fund will allocate its donation, based on need, to as many hospitality industry professionals as possible facing financial crises due to the pandemic.
Pernod Ricard North America encourages consumers to remember their bartenders this holiday season and consider making their own contributions to the Restaurant Workers’ Community Foundation or Bartenders Benevolent Fund.
