Coronavirus: T-Shirt Sale Raises $70K For Bar/Eatery Workers

CHICAGO — In less than 48 hours, Logan Square bar owners hawking T-shirts to raise cash for bartenders and servers suffering financially during the hospitality industry shutdown due to new coronavirus fears collected more than $70,000 to help hourly workers at 100 local establishments.

Leisure Activities, a hospitality company that owns two bars in Logan Square and Avondale, partnered with Stock Mfg., a restaurant uniform company, to sell "Chicago Hospitality United" T-shirts online for $25 each.

"When our bars were shut down due to COVID-19, we immediately started thinking about what we could do to benefit our team and mobilize to raise significant funds to help hourly workers who are affected the most," Leisure Activities co-owner Wade McElroy said. "The response was amazing. We sold over 2,100 T-shirts since we launched. It's incredible to see the amount of support that continues to pour in."

Samantha Lee, founder of Hopewell Brewing Co, said the fundraising effort made her "tear up."

"Those of us in the hospitality and food/beverage service operate on incredibly slim margins, so this crisis is upending everything," she said. "These kinds of acts of kindness make me optimistic that we can get through this with collective action."

Initially, the effort was set to benefit workers from about a dozen local bars and restaurants. By Wednesday, McElroy said, workers from 100 establishments were set to received proceeds from the fundraising effort.

"While there's no good news for anybody at in the restaurant industry at this time of uncertainty, it feels good to be pouring our energy into this cause," McElroy said.

Every week, all the profits are set to be split evenly among the 100 participating restaurants. McElroy said he's soliciting help from major beer and liquor brands and distributors to cover T-shirts costs to put more money in workers' pockets.

"We know we have the support of the public, and now we're looking for big brands that this industry supports to come in and help cover the cost of blank T-shirts so every dollar earned go to these people who need it," McElroy said.

Erin Carlman Weber, co-owner of All Together Now in Ukrainian Village, called the T-shirt fundraiser a "bright, inspiring spot in an otherwise gloomy stretch of days."

"There’s no government-backed net to catch the thousands of hardworking people who call this industry home, but at least we’ve got each other," Weber said. "Plus, the shirts are cool as hell."

McElroy said a new line of T-shirts designed by artist Cody Hudson — along with buttons, stickers and other merchandise — will be available online soon.

"We're hoping to keep the momentum rolling and raise a significant amount of funds," he said. "Our industry isn't set up for a stoppage of cash flow. We're hoping, as owners, the government will help us at some point. Right now, all our focus is helping our people. We're just taking it one day at time."