Waltham Chamber Starts 'Virtual Tip Jar' For Restaurant Workers

WALTHAM, MA — The restaurant industry has taken some of the hardest hits amid the pandemic, including in Waltham where a number of restaurants have shuttered or gone into hibernation. The closures have been difficult for those who own the businesses, but also for the bus boys, the waiters and the bar keeps who depended on tips to survive.

"The restaurant industry workers need our help," Waltham Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Molyna Richards said. "It will take the community to save the restaurant industry and support its employees."

Worried that as the pandemic and associated closures and fear continue into a second year restaurants that Waltham knows and love might not be able to reopen or survive until the post-COVID-19 world, the chamber decided to create a "virtual tip jar" for industry workers.

The idea is that by creating a massive fund it could help the cooks, servers, bussers and bartenders who staff the city's 152 restaurants make it through the coming weeks and months with limited or no income because so many shifts have been cut.

"Waltham's restaurant employees are the people who feed us when we need comfort. Waltham's restaurant employees pop bottles and cheer us for our milestones, career changes, celebrations and weddings," said Richards. "Waltham's restaurant employees listen to our stories and console us after heartache."

Richards said this is just the latest way the chamber has been working to help support the business community's economic development during the pandemic.

The "Waltham Waiters COVID Relief Fund" is for anyone who wants to support the staff of the restaurants and bars, Richards said. The goal: Raise $100,000 to go toward industry worker needs. As of two weeks into the program, some three dozen people have donated $3,200 to that end.

But, she stressed, you don't have to donate $100 or $500 to be a hero. She said $1 or $2 goes a long way, and figures if everyone who lives in town donated $1 the fund could reach $60,000.

Once the chamber's fundraiser gains momentum and raises money, any of the city's restaurant owners can apply for grants and then distribute to their employees, as they might a very large tip left by a generous donor who asked that it be divided by the entire staff.

"Right now our bartenders and our servers, they were there for us when they didn't even know we needed them," she said. "Our restaurateurs have supported the community for years, baseball teams, basketball teams all the school events that need sponsors: It's the restaurants that are there for them."

The Massachusetts Restaurant Association this summer estimated that about one quarter of the state’s restaurants — and the thousands of staff that were employed by them — would not survive the coronavirus pandemic.

"While virtually impossible to get an accurate number, we estimate that approximately 3,500 restaurants have permanently closed in Mass," association vice president of operations Kerry Miller said.

And Waltham is just a microcosm of the rest of the commonwealth. Although Molyna said she wasn't sure of the number of restaurants in town that have had to fold, it's clear they are struggling.

It's the city's turn now, to help support the moms and dads working to make ends meet at a time when shifts have been cut, she said.

"Everyone wants to help out, they just don't know how," Molyna said. "This is just a way to do something beyond buying takeout."

Jenna Fisher is a news reporter for Patch. Got a tip? She can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna). Have a something you'd like posted on the Patch? Here's how.