Eat Out has launched a Restaurant Relief Fund in conjunction with the Community Chest, to financially help out the restaurants that have transformed their kitchens in preparing meals for  needy members of our country’s community, to cover some of their expenses. A relief package, strictly controlled in terms of Terms and Conditions, up to a maximum of R50000 is offered per restaurant. The Eat Out Restaurant Relief Fund stands at R 767000.

A number of stringent conditions for receiving the Funding follow below.

 

On its website Eat Out writes: Restaurants or industry individuals who meet the criteria can apply to receive funding. If successful, grants will be given in line with the number of meals they produce each day. Eat Out will receive no commercial benefit from the donations – all money will go directly to qualifying restaurants’

Community Chest is a non-profit organisation (NPO) and public benefit organisation (PBO), which aims ‘at improving the lives of all South Africans by mobilising the caring power of communities, business and the government to advance the common good. It will administer and manage the fundraising bank account and assist with application vetting, all to ensure good governance of the generous donations received and paid out. We are proud to be in partnership with them. Community Chest is a registered NPO (000 – 040) and PBO (130002437). As our PBO partner, they will issue the necessary Section 18a Certificates, so that all donations to the fund are tax deductible

Eat Out is also linked to the Restaurant Association of South Africa (RASA), an NPO formed in 2004,  acting in the interest of South African restaurateurs, and claims to be the official voice and lobbying body of the industry.

Details about the Restaurant Relief Fund, and how to apply for Relief Funding, follows below: .

 

How the fund works

• Applications will be vetted by the Applications Panel, made up of representatives from Eat Out and Community Chest.
• Funds will be paid to qualifying restaurants guided by the number of meals they produce each day, capped at R50 000 per restaurant.
• Restaurants will have to account for how they spent their grant.
• All donations into the account, and payments made from it, will be tracked and monitored on a daily basis.

Thank you for considering the Eat Out Restaurant Relief Fund – together we can help feed South Africa and protect our restaurant industry.

Get in touch

• Queries on donating or applying help@eatout.co.za
• Do you have a good news story we can share on our site? help@eatout.co.za
• PR and media enquiries help@eatout.co.za
• Want to speak to someone about supporting the fund? help@eatout.co.za

About the fund

• Fund manager: Tarryn Corlett tarryn.corlett@newmedia.co.za
• New Media: MD Aileen Lamb aileen.lamb@newmedia.co.za
• Community Chest: CEO Lorenzo Davids ldavids@comchest.org.za

The small print

• Funding will be allocated by Eat Out in accordance with the stated objective and at its discretion, in consultation with the qualifying restaurants and our NGO partner, Community Chest. Eat Out strictly reserves the right to request any further information in order to confirm that applicants meet the qualifying criteria. See Request Funding page for qualifying criteria.
• Funding will directly depend on the amount of donations received.
• Although there are so many excellent initiatives out there, please note funds will go to restaurants first. As funding will be in demand, we may be unable to support: street vendors, food trucks, large franchises, catering companies, delicatessens, fast food restaurant chains, dinner clubs or private food outlets. However, if applicants in these categories feel they do qualify for funding, they should email help@eatout.co.za.
• Successful applicants undertake to Eat Out to respect and observe all applicable laws in the registration of their initiatives and the execution of the services during the nationwide lockdown. However, Eat Out cannot guarantee that Grantees will uphold such undertaking and does not accept any liability in this regard. Eat Out has no control over and is not responsible for the quality, safety or legality of these initiatives or services, the accuracy of any information provided by Grantees and/or any of their vendors or the ability of Grantees and/or any vendors to perform the services.
• Funds received from Eat Out must be used for the mobilisation of the restaurant for food relief during lockdown and thereafter: general operations, staff salaries and feeding operations.
• The business must comply with all relevant laws and regulations.
• Eat Out is owned by New Media (Pty) Ltd, a division of Media24.

Terms and Conditions

 

• Eat Out, in co-operation with the non-profit organisation Community Chest, has established the Eat Out Restaurant Relief Fund (“the Fund“) with the objective to provide qualifying South African restaurants with financial aid to sustain their businesses and preserve jobs in an attempt to curb the paralysing effect of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic (the “pandemic“) on the local restaurant industry.
• To access funding from the Fund, restaurants must demonstrate how they intend to apply the funding to relieve the negative effect of the pandemic on communities where food security has been impacted and on their businesses and consequently on the livelihood of restaurateurs, chefs and/or other employees. This can be achieved by utilising the funding to subsidise expenses towards the restaurants’ fixed costs, operational costs, employees, supplies or other relevant cost items.
• Restaurants will be prioritised in the allocation of funds. As funding will be in demand, we may be unable to support: street vendors, food trucks, large franchises, catering companies, delicatessens, fast food restaurant chains, dinner clubs, private food outlets, and establishments wholly or partially owned by the government. However, if applicants in these categories feel they do qualify for funding, they should email help@eatout.co.za.
• Funding will be allocated in accordance with the Fund’s stated objective.
• Eat Out strictly reserves the right to request any further information from applicant restaurants in order to confirm that applicants meet the qualifying criteria. See Request Funding page for qualifying criteria.
• Eat Out reserves the right to decline any application on any basis (without the need to provide reasons), including that a relevant application isn’t aligned with the Fund’s objective or that a restaurant fails to meet the qualifying criteria.
• The available funding and duration of existence of the Fund will directly depend on the donations received by the Fund.

Indemnity

• Restaurants applying to the Fund undertake to Eat Out :
  • to observe and comply with all applicable laws, regulations and government directives which may from time to time be in force in South Africa;
  • that it has obtained and it is in compliance with all authorisations required to enable it to lawfully carry out its business under normal circumstances;
  • that it has disclosed to Eat Out all such information that may be material to the granting of funds from the Fund to it, and that all information disclosed in the application process is true, correct and complete in every material respect.
• Eat Out does not accept any liability in this regard. Eat Out has no control over and is not responsible for the quality, safety or legality of an applicant restaurant or the accuracy of any information provided by it
• In submitting an application to the Fund, an applicant restaurant indemnifies and holds Eat Out, Community Chest and the Fund, and their respective employees, officers, directors, subsidiaries, shareholders, affiliates, holding companies,  successors, assigns, representatives, agents, advisers, service providers, sub-contractors and suppliers harmless to the fullest extent possible from and against any and all claims, damages, obligations, losses, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including but not limited to attorneys’ fees) arising from:
  •  the restaurant’s application and any information submitted by it;
  •  any funding obtained;
  • any breach by the restaurant of the terms set out herein or as may be subsequently agreed by the parties;
  • the restaurant’s breach of any third party right, including without limitation any copyright, trademark, trade secret or other property, or privacy right; or
  •  any claim that any content or information submitted by a person on the restaurant’s behalf is inaccurate, defamatory, unlawful, offensive and/or discriminatory and/or that it caused damage or loss to any person;

Qualifying criteria for restaurants
In order to apply for funds from the Fund, a restaurant must submit its completed application form (available at https://help.eatout.co.za) to help@eatout.co.za, together with copies of the following documents :

• a description of the restaurant’s name and business profile
• proof that the restaurant has been operating for at least six months;
• proof of the restaurant’s address and geographic area;
• relevant industry certification;
• a motivation of why the restaurant should be assisted and how the pandemic is affecting it;
• a description of the intended use of the funding (budget breakdown);
• a letter issued by the restaurant’s bank (not older than three months) with details of the bank account to which the funds must be paid to the extent that the restaurant’s application is successful. Should this not be possible due to lockdown, please download proof of account from your online banking portal.
• certified ID copy of applicant;
• proof of valid registration with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) or as a sole proprietor;
• a valid tax clearance certificate or PIN.

Funding Mechanism

• The application form and supporting documents from the restaurant will be assessed by an applications panel composed of four people including: Aileen Lamb (Managing Director of New Media), Andrew Nunneley (Brand Strategy Director of New Media), Tarryn Corlett (Head of Eat Out Restaurant Relief Fund) and Lorenzo Davids (CEO of Community Chest).
• The applications panel will award and allocate the amount of funding to qualifying and deserving restaurants in its exclusive and absolute discretion. In doing so the applications panel may take into account considerations including (but not limited to) the level of financial distress of the qualifying  restaurant, the prospects of the restaurant surviving the pandemic; the manner in which the restaurant intends to apply the funding, the number of applications received and the funds available in the Fund at the given time.
• Successful applicant restaurants (“Fund Beneficiaries“) will receive a funding notification letter and a request for an invoice so the funds can be paid out.
• Funding to Fund Beneficiaries will be granted on an once-off ex gratia basis and will be capped at a maximum per restaurant of R50 000, with the potential that further funds may be granted to existing Fund Beneficiaries in the following month or months, provided that sufficient funds are available and that reporting by the Fund Beneficiary has been thorough. The Fund will not be obliged to make any further funding available to Fund Beneficiaries.
• Fund Beneficiaries must apply any funds received, together with any interest earned upon it :
  • strictly for the purpose outlined in the funding notification letter. Funds may not be expended for any other purpose without the Fund’s prior written approval; and
  • within the period specifically set out in the funding notification letter. Any portion of an award not expended within the prescribed time frame shall be returned to the Fund immediately.

Reporting on funds received

• Fund Beneficiaries will keep proper record of all receipts and expenditures relating to the funds received and shall provide the Fund with a comprehensive written report detailing the utilisation of funds promptly following the end of the period during which the Fund Beneficiary is to use the funds in terms of the funding notification letter.
• Fund Beneficiaries may be required to submit interim reports to the Fund.
• Reports must set out the Fund Beneficiary’s progress in achieving the purposes for which the funds were intended, and include a detailed accounting of the uses or expenditure of the funds together with written proof thereof (such as invoices, receipts, POP’s and similar). Please see the reporting guidelines which will be sent to you if successful.
• Fund Beneficiaries are encouraged to submit photos and video footage illustrating how the funds received may have assisted in alleviating the hardship caused by the pandemic, as proof of use of funds and also to be shared on Eat Out’s online channels to spread good-news stories.
• The Fund reserves the right to audit any amounts allocated to Fund Beneficiaries, in which event the Fund Beneficiaries will grant representatives of Eat Out or Community Chest or the Fund reasonable access to its financial statements (including audited versions) and books of account covering any part of the period during which funds allocated by the Fund were to be applied.
• Fund Beneficiaries undertake to :
  • to use their kitchen, in part or in whole, to prepare the required meal units (in bulk or in individual units) that will be distributed to an NGO or community hub that distributes food in your community during the month indicated in your letter.
  • comply with all COVID19 regulations; the Eat Out Restaurant Relief Fund does not hold any liability for your breach thereof.
  • retain the relevant  financial records, along with copies of any reports submitted to the Fund, for at least five years following the year in which the funds received are fully expended.
  • provide the Fund with any other information that may be reasonably requested by the Fund;
  • notify the Fund immediately in writing of their inability to expend the funds for the purposes described in the funding notification letter; and/or any expenditure made for any purpose other than those for which the funds were intended.
  • have all applicable health and related permits and certificates to operate your establishment during the conditions governing the COVID19 Disaster Declaration.
• Misspent funds and unused funds must be returned to the Fund, failing which legal action will be taken.

Information submitted by restaurants

• By submitting any information to the Fund, restaurants warrant and agree that :-
  • they are entitled to use that information for the purpose for which it was submitted, and that Eat Out, Community Chest and the Fund may use it for such purpose;
  • all such information is and is kept accurate and up-to-date at all relevant times.
• During the course of its interaction with the Fund, restaurants may be required to provide the Fund with certain personal information relating to the restaurant and/or individuals associated with the restaurant.  By disclosing or submitting such personal information to the Fund, the relevant persons consent to the Fund collecting, processing and storing the personal information for the purposes and in the manner as prescribed by law.

Agreement and indemnity

• By submitting an application to the Fund, restaurants agree to enter into a legally binding agreement with Eat Out, Community Chest and the Fund upon the terms set out in this document. A restaurant’s submission of an application to the Fund will be deemed to mean that the restaurant agrees to the terms set out herein.
• Fund Beneficiaries may agree to additional terms from time to time, including as set out in the funding notification letter, which terms will supplement and be deemed to be incorporated by reference in, and read with and as part of, these terms.

 

To donate to the Eat Out Restaurant Relief Fund: https://help.eatout.co.za/donate

 

Chris von Ulmenstein, WhaleTales Blog: www.chrisvonulmenstein.com/blog Tel +27 082 55 11 323 Twitter:@Ulmenstein Facebook: Chris von Ulmenstein Instagram: @Chrissy_Ulmenstein