On Monday, Grubhub, a leading food-ordering and delivery marketplace, and The Greg Hill Foundation’s Restaurant Strong Fund announced the Restaurant Winterization Grant program, a new initiative to provide $10,000 grants to eligible independent restaurants. With indoor dining limited in many cities to combat a resurgence of COVID-19, this financial support will help restaurants prepare for winter, including by helping restaurants address needs for additional infrastructure and equipment to extend outdoor dining, increased personal protective equipment (PPE) to protect their employees, and other necessities to get them through the cold-weather months.

The program will be supported with a $2 million grant recommended from Grubhub Community Relief Fund (GCRF), a donor-advised fund created in March by Grubhub to support charitable organizations helping restaurants, drivers and those in need impacted by COVID-19. Restaurant Strong Fund will also be accepting donations for the Restaurant Winterization Grant program, helping extend the program beyond the initial launch.

“What Grubhub has done already to support thousands of restaurant owners and their employees has been instrumental in helping them make it through work interruptions during the pandemic,” says Greg Hill, Founder of The Greg Hill Foundation.” With this next phase, they will ensure that countless restaurants have a fighting chance to make it through winter. We can’t thank them enough for their initiative and drive to help.”

“This winter will be different than any one before, with the restaurants we know and love needing more support to get through the season,” adds Seth Priebatsch, chief revenue officer at Grubhub. “Our partnership with the Restaurant Strong Fund – already instrumental in providing grants for restaurant employee relief earlier in the pandemic – is now responding to the needs of restaurants and providing valuable support to help them survive the challenging months ahead.”

Starting November 9 through November 21, the Restaurant Strong Fund will accept grant applications from all restaurants located in Chicago, New York City, Boston or Philadelphia with five or fewer locations. The application period will close on November 21 and grants will be fully distributed to restaurants before the end of November. Interested restaurants can learn more about the Restaurant Winterization Grant program and the full application process at https://www.restaurantstrong.org/winterize/.

Throughout the pandemic, Grubhub has raised more than $13 million through Grubhub’s Donate the Change program, where diners are able to round up their total at checkout and donate the difference to fund the Grubhub Community Relief Fund. Grubhub matches eligible donations of Grubhub+ members that are opted in to Donate the Change. A snapshot of organizations supported include:

Boys & Girls Club of America: Grubhub’s on-going support has helped Clubs reopen their doors across the country, providing a safe environment for parents to bring their children while they are working on the frontlines, whether as healthcare workers, restaurant workers, and delivery personnel. Reopening Club doors supports an array of needs within the community, including helping kids with academics, virtual learning opportunities and providing access to meals for families in need.

MEANS Database: Through MEANS Database, Grubhub’s support is used to purchase leftover food from independent restaurants in cities across the country to provide to local nonprofits, including Open Door Missionary Church, World Harvest Food Bank, Common Pantry and Providence Rescue Mission.

Rescuing Leftover Cuisine (RLC): With support from the GCRF, RLC purchases meals from Black-owned restaurants that are then donated to food insecure students and their families who need it most. With our restaurant partners also facing hardships due to COVID-19 and reduced in-person dining capacity, this program also provides local restaurants an opportunity to remain active and receive revenue from the meals purchased by RLC.

The Greg Hill Foundation’s Restaurant Strong Fund: In addition to the current Restaurant Winterization Grant program, Grubhub also supported the Restaurant Strong Fund’s grant program earlier this year, providing micro-grants to independent restaurants and their employees across the country.