How to Support Restaurant Employees in Need with Sheila Bennett

The Restaurants Reinvented community  is committed to supporting our industry's children and employee by participating in CORES Summer of Giving campaign. 

1 in 4 restaurant workers are not able to pay a medical bill over $400

When unexpected medical crises arise, restaurant workers have limited financial options and resources. That’s where CORE -- Children of Restaurant Employees -- comes in. 

CORE helps restaurant employees with children by providing financial support, through grants, when they face a medical crisis, death, or natural disaster.

The average CORE grant is $2,400; and 50% of grants go to single working parents.

Want to get involved? 

• Spread the word on Social Media
• Refer restaurant employees with children in need to apply for a grant
• Share CORE's resources with your community 
• Donate today. Every donation counts, regardless of size!

In this episode, Jen Kern & Sheila Bennett, Executive Director of CORE,  explore:

• The story behind CORE
• CORE's  support program for restaurant workers, the eligibility criteria
• Community resources available 
• How to spread the word 

Resources:

• Donate today
• CORE website
• CORE Resource Center
• What’s Self-Care Got to Do With It?
• We're in the People Business

Check out Qu's Annual State of Digital for Enterprise QSR & Fast Casual Brands

Transcript

Qu - Restaurants Reinvented - Sheila Bennett

[00:00:00] Sheila Bennett: The pandemic did shine a light on our industry. And how this industry gives back to the communities in which they serve, you know, is the industry of opportunity, and we just recognized the need to appreciate the workforce and to be for them when they need it the most. 

[00:00:44] Jen Kern: Hello, everyone, and welcome back to Restaurants Reinvented. This is Jen, and today I'm joined with Sheila Bennett from CORE, the children of restaurant employees, my new favorite pet project, by the way. And I can't wait to hear all about it today. So, Sheila, please go ahead and introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your background.

[00:01:03] And then we're going to dive right into learning all about how we can support children of restaurant employees.

[00:01:09] Jen, thank you for the warm introduction and also for giving us the opportunity to tell your audience about CORE. We're the best-kept secret in the industry. And. 

[00:01:19] Jen Kern: Agreed.

[00:01:20] Sheila Bennett: But, with your help, we're changing that. Anyway, CORE was founded, or the concept of CORE was developed in 2004 when some friends that worked in the restaurant industry met for cocktails during the restaurant show in Chicago in 2004, and many of them worked in the beverage vertical, meaning they worked for Diageo, selling vodka and a restaurant operator was at the table. And they were talking about so many times people came to them, asking for money to support these amazing organizations and causes, but then they were curious to find out, well, is there a cause out there that supports the working employees, the workforce in our industry and they couldn't think of anything.

[00:02:04] And they said, "Well, let's create it." So, in the early days, they really weren't certain what to do. They just knew they wanted to help. And they went to their friends, and they initially partnered with a great organization called Make-A-Wish, for three years. But the families, they helped being many times the frontline workers in any kind of food service operation, you know, they would say, "Gosh, well, this is really nice.

[00:02:28] What we really need help with is just covering our bills, you know, our rent and mortgage and utilities and maybe some out-of-pocket medical costs." And so, they took two years off, did a lot of research around CORE, and that's when they determined and identified, you know, the structure of what has grown and evolved to be CORE today. But I will say, back in 2019, they were searching for an executive director that could take them beyond beverage. Now, keep in mind, they came up with the idea of core in 2004 and take it to 2019 where they're going, "Oh, we need someone to get us beyond the beverage vertical." And that's where I came in, and they were looking for someone again that had the connections beyond beverage.

[00:03:11] And in my long career, the restaurant industry, I started out working part-time at Ruby Tuesdays in Nashville while I was teaching as a teaching assistant at Vanderbilt in child psychiatry. 

[00:03:24] Jen Kern: Wow.

[00:03:24] Sheila Bennett: And I got a job there to supplement my income with a goal to go back and get my masters in special ed. Well, all I can say is I fell in love with this industry. And worked for several years part-time with Ruby Tuesdays and then went on board with a food service distribution company, which, if you've been in the industry for a while, you may remember PYA/Monarch. They're the third-largest food distributor in the nation, and they only covered 33 states. They were owned by Sara Lee Corporation, an amazing organization.

[00:03:55] And I was with them for 12 years. First, the national accounts, worked my way up to run the chain account department, cross-trained in other departments in purchasing. And then, we were sold to a food service. And I was offered an opportunity to go on board with the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation in Chicago, and accepted that opportunity. Learned so much more about the industry from a high level of view and how everything works together and worked with the board at the NRI Ed Foundation and the NRA Board, The Restaurant Association Board, and was in Chicago for almost three years. But for the Southern girl, Chicago was pretty cold.

[00:04:36] And I moved south with Compass Group North America, their food by division. And then, they wanted me to move after I bought a home and settled in, and I was like, "No, I think I want to stay in Atlanta for a while." And worked with other companies, basics restaurant services, which then evolve to our modest Supply Chain Solutions group, share our strength, where they first had a program

[00:05:00] they wanted to take to the industry called The Great American Dine-Out. So, I was hired to lead that program and that was in 2008, and day two of that program, the market crashed. So, we retooled the program to ask operators to create cause marketing programs and engage their guests for a donation and giving them something in return.

[00:05:23] And then, I rebranded at The Dine Out for No Kid Hungry. Basically, ran that program for seven years put it on the map to the industry, which really works on ending childhood hunger, a great program. And then, I went through my own medical crisis in 2015. And I went through brain surgery. 

[00:05:41] Jen Kern: Oh, Gosh, I'm so sorry.

[00:05:43] Sheila Bennett: And that is actually, it was seven years ago, May 13 is that kind of, you know, day of when I went through what was to be a four and a half to five-hour surgery, it ended up being eight and a half hours. But the good news is I was told I was going to be swollen on in my face like I had a grapefruit attached to the front side of my face and that I would just be miserable for a month. And I was just curious after seeing a segment on Dr. Oz about anti-inflammatory diets when go through Andrew while we're talking about those. And I thought, "Well, maybe I should try that." And I did, and I did not have that swelling, shocked the doctors and surgeons at Emory, and I became the first unofficial case study of the positive impact of anti-inflammatory diets, and they could operate longer. So, you know, and have even the best possible outcome. And then, through it, when I got through that journey that year because it took some time to work through it, you know, surgery, physical therapy, to be able to get my balance again and stand on one foot to radiation six weeks for five days a week. And then, I went and worked with Fishbowl Marketing, which was the very first marketing program for the restaurant industry.

[00:07:03] And they're now Personica, and then they sold. And anyway, the I left them and came on board with CORE after the recruiter that had placed the numerous times called and said, "There's this little non-profit that needs your help." And that was, I came on board January 24, 2020, right before the pandemic hit. Yeah. And moved back to my hometown of  Nashville. 

[00:07:30] Jen Kern: Okay. 

[00:07:31] Sheila Bennett: And here we are. 

[00:07:33] Jen Kern: Wow. And just like you said, I mean, well, first of all, thanks for the background. It's fascinating. When you've got the restaurant operations industry background, you've got clearly a strong background. And like you said, you studied child psychology, but then, also in the non-profit and the cause marketing side.

[00:07:49] And so, this is all so beautifully come together. Like you said, putting No Kid Hungry on the map to put CORE on the map, which I had never heard of. So, I didn't, I mean, I'm surprised it was started in 2012 or no, you said 2004 it was started. And the first time I heard about it was at a conference recently in Phoenix, Restaurant Leadership conference.

[00:08:12] I might've heard about it last year, but when I heard the statistic that one in four restaurant workers cannot afford a medical bill, to pay a medical bill over $400. I was like, I need to learn more about this, and I need to get involved because what I love about it is, like you said, it supports the restaurant workers and their families.

[00:08:34] And I can tell it's near and dear to your heart having had that medical crisis yourself. I also suffered from a pretty awful auto-immune disease about 10 years ago. And I was reading one of your case studies about 

[00:08:48] Sheila Bennett: Yeah. 

[00:08:48] Jen Kern: a family member who had auto-immune and, and the mom couldn't get to to work because she was trying to take care of the kid, and these things can be very debilitating. And I often feel like incredibly blessed that I had the resources to go to multiple doctors to figure out what was going on with me and then get treatment, which was very costly. The other stat you told me is that the number one cause of bankruptcy in America is unexpected medical costs.

[00:09:16] It is. And, I mean, just think about that, that's to any American or anyone living in the US, not just employees in our industry, but also when you reference the $400 bill, that's not even just a medical crisis, any $400 bill that you could get, you know, and that could be debilitating to any family in America.

[00:09:37] Sheila Bennett: So, you know, the challenge is real, and I know what it's like to go through a medical crisis and then not, you know, have that usual income coming in and, you know, it's challenging. And then you wonder, "What are the consequences?" You know, there are sometimes prescriptions that you need to get better, therapies that you need, equipment that you need.

[00:09:58] Are you able to afford those things? And that's where CORE comes in because our grant process is established to cover those out-of-pocket unusual expenses like therapies, medical equipment, medical supplies, prescription costs so you can be on your path of getting better, but also we want to make sure that you can keep a roof over your head and food on the table.

[00:10:25] So, we're that first emergency response that we may pay your rent and mortgage and pay that directly. That takes that stress away from you, which is usually the number one stress, "How am I just going to provide for my family?" So, that's what CORE does, is we will cover rent and mortgage, utilities, out-of-pocket medical costs, such as prescription, therapies, equipment.

[00:10:47] We may also cover funds for basic necessities, putting groceries on the table, diapers, formula, other items like that, or also we're there when someone faces a natural disaster, you know, hurricanes, fires, floods, tornadoes. And in those situations, if you've lost your income or if you've lost your home and maybe your contents inside, you've just got to go and be able to buy a toothbrush and toothpaste.

[00:11:19] Sheila Bennett: And so, and a brush and a comb or clothing, just some basic items. So, we have a gift card that is trackable spend that we provide for those types of expenses, as well. 

[00:11:31] Jen Kern: Right. And what percentage of the grantees are medical, dealing with medical issues are or have children with medical issues versus the percent that and I even saw something about like death in the family sort of support, how many are in that medical category versus the natural disaster category?

[00:11:53] Sheila Bennett: Yeah, it varies based on year to year and how many natural disaster applications we receive. But in 2021, which is where I have 12 months of data, rolling data, 83 to 84% of our grants were due to a medical crisis. 

[00:12:08] Jen Kern: Okay.

[00:12:08] Sheila Bennett: Or a diagnosis. It was around 17% were due to a natural disaster. 

[00:12:15] Jen Kern: Okay. 

[00:12:16] Sheila Bennett: We had several from wildfires.

[00:12:17] We had flood of applications. We had tornadoes and hurricane applications, various things like that that would happen, you know, from all over the country. And also, keep in mind, CORE grants to employees with children in all 50 states, DC and Puerto Rico. 

[00:12:35] Jen Kern: So, they have to have children in order to qualify. 

[00:12:38] Sheila Bennett: Yeah. Because the founders, they were concerned about our industry's children, and they wanted to take care of them. So, in the very early days, that grants for a Make-A-Wish were really for a children's diagnoses. And then, when they did research and cut off the organization for two years to conduct research, that's when they expanded it to an employee's diagnosis or their spouse or the child because they knew children many times were impacted the most, and they wanted to make sure that they could thrive and live. 

[00:13:13] Jen Kern: Right. And so, do you know the percentage of the 80-ish that are medical? How many of those are to the actual restaurant worker versus the spouse or the child?

[00:13:23] Sheila Bennett: I have a robust spreadsheet where I could tell you all that data, you know, it's like there's so much data that we have that we're capturing. And off the top of my head, I can't tell you that percentage, but many times, I was looking actually at that data yesterday, and I'm always amazed at, 'cause we are still tracking a COVID diagnosis from grants from last year.

[00:13:44] Because, again, during COVID, there were a large number that were COVID related. There were COVID hospitalizations. There were also COVID deaths, you know, not just the traditional COVID diagnosis, but we had all of the above, but it's a pretty solid mix. I think the numbers I looked at yesterday was around 30% were the child's diagnosis. And in some situations, it was the spouse. 

[00:14:10] Jen Kern: Okay.

[00:14:11] Sheila Bennett: You know, but a larger percentage to the employee, but... 

[00:14:15] Jen Kern: Yeah, I mean, 'cause I can imagine that if the child is sick or the spouse is sick, it makes it hard for the person to get to work. And then, they have that additional stress and anxiety of, "I can barely afford this now or not afford to pay for this now. And I'm in jeopardy of losing income from work or losing my job if I don't show up."

[00:14:35] Sheila Bennett: Exactly, exactly. And one of the qualifications is number one, you must be employed in any kind of food service or beverage service operation. And I want to talk about that a little bit because a lot of people do not realize that could be a restaurant, any type of restaurant, it could be quick service, fast casual, casual dining, fine dining, independent operator.

[00:14:57] It could also be a food truck. It could be a catering venue. If you provide food service and beverage service, it can be a coffee shop, a bar. It could be a bar in a hotel. It could be a stadium and entertainment. There's food service and beverage service, coffee shop. It could also be a hospital cafeteria or catering. Schools, universities, anybody in food service or beverage service that would be recognized, again, by the National Restaurant Association would qualify.

[00:15:28] Then number two, you must have a legally dependent child, and number three, you must have a qualifying circumstance which would be medical illness or diagnosis, injury that would keep you from, death of the employee spouse or child, loss of home or place of work due to a natural disaster. And here's another one that we don't talk about as much.

[00:15:51] And we don't really talk about the stories because of confidentiality, but also documented domestic abuse, and we do require documentation. So, and especially if we're paying specific bills, It may be, "I need your mortgage, your rent statement. I need your pay stub to prove that you are currently employed.

[00:16:12] And then, even if you've got your diagnosis, that you're going to be out of work for two months, you know, what, do you intend to go back to work?" As well. And then, but we do require documentation and the application process is so easy because an employee can apply online on our website. They can apply using their smartphone.

[00:16:33] They can also upload the required documentation by taking a photo with their smartphone and uploading it to the system. And then also, what's really important to know a family or an employee can be referred to CORE. And we have a link on our website for that too. And I'll give an example. I'll give a couple of examples.

[00:16:54] There was an employee and he passed away. Well, his family didn't know about CORE. So, his coworkers went online and referred them and filled out the application and contacted the family, and said, "This organization CORE is going to be contacting you and may be able to help you out." 

[00:17:15] Number two, there is an organization, a restaurant group out of North Carolina called Hickory Tavern. And I get calls like this every now and then, but they called me from their corporate office, and they said, "We need CORE." They said, "One of our employees is a single mom, and she's a server in one of our restaurants, and her daughter was diagnosed with a brain disorder. It was a form of leukemia and is going to need first going to the doctors to get the full diagnosis, treatment, plan through treatment. And she's going to miss a lot of work. And we just don't know what to do." 

[00:17:50] So, they referred her online, and immediately, we were able to cover her living expenses for, I think, it was one to two months. And it took that stress away from her so she could focus on her daughter's healing and recovery. 

[00:18:05] Jen Kern: Well, I mean, I'm getting a little emotional here. I got to tell you, I mean, it's pretty touching. Um, you know, you mentioned domestic abuse, you mentioned these children with life-threatening illnesses, parents having to miss work. Um, I know in our previous conversation, we talked about addiction.

[00:18:20] I mean, these are all issues that plague us as a society overall, right? And as an industry, too. And, and just to know that there's someone or something there to support you. I mean, you would hope that when anyone goes through a medical crisis or any sort of difficult situation like we're talking about, that they have their friends and family that surround them.

[00:18:44] Not everyone does. But then, to know that there's an organization out there just expressly for restaurant food service workers to have their back during a really stressful time is just lovely. I mean, it's, it's wonderful. And so, guess one of the questions I would ask you, I mean, I'm, I'm curious, how do restaurant workers, like, how do we get the word out to the restaurant workers?

[00:19:08] 'Cause we're talking about millions of people, right? Just in the United States. I think it's what 10, 10% of the population works in some form of restaurant food service role. How do we get the, the word out to them that this exists and that they can refer friends that they find out, you know, are struggling?

[00:19:28] Sheila Bennett: Well, we're a very small organization based in Nashville. There are four full-time employees, one part-time employee, and two part-time consultants. And we're actually in the midst of hiring a full-time marketing communications director. Yay.

[00:19:42] Jen Kern: Yay. 

[00:19:43] Sheila Bennett: That will help immensely, but, you know, we've got some tools on our website.

[00:19:48] Okay, you can go to a coregives, G I V E S.org, O R G, and at the bottom of the page is a link that says, "Communication resources." And there, you can download items like our CORE back of the house poster, which I'm holding up a copy right now, if you can see this. Now, you have a couple of options, you can either just download it and print it and take it to restaurants in your neighborhood to help us get the word out 

[00:20:15] Jen Kern: I love that. 

[00:20:16] Sheila Bennett: Or B, you could click the link and order them from Calor gas printing on this kind of synthetic material, which we recommend because this is going to hold up in a kitchen or in a restaurant. 

[00:20:25] Jen Kern: Yeah. Yeah. 

[00:20:27] Sheila Bennett: And also, this August, the week of August 1, we're having our second annual CORE national days of service.

[00:20:37] And we invite, this is something, it's boots on the ground, anybody can get your team members, your friends, your clubs, your associations and you can go together and hand these out. And we even have a little one-pager that introduces CORE the readers that you're going to meet saying, "Well, who is CORE? What do you do with this piece of paper?" And, you know, how can they help your employees, it's a benefit, which is lovely. 

[00:21:04] Jen Kern: Yes.

[00:21:04] Sheila Bennett: And then, so everybody can do this anytime a year, but we're really rallying the industry, you know, that we can particular to," Please help us get these posters out." To operations around the country. 

[00:21:15] Jen Kern: Okay. And I'm sorry, what was the weekend? June? 

[00:21:17] Sheila Bennett: August 1, the week one. 

[00:21:20] Jen Kern: The week of August 1. Okay. I'm going to, I'm going to embody my old pastor; he used to do this, "Okay. Everyone, wake up." Listeners, are you paying attention? Okay. If you're not looking at the video, which probably most people won't be.

[00:21:34] Sheila is holding up these great little brochures. You can do this. Anyone can do this. Like, right now, you can go to the website, coregives.org, coregives.org. They have fantastic. I've been on your site with all the resources. You can just download and print a brochure right now that you can go handout at your neighborhood favorite restaurants or if you work in a restaurant yourself, print it, put it at the front,

[00:22:00] for your employees to see so that they know that this program is available. So, everyone has an action item right now to go print that out. And then, on August 1, the, the week of August 1, let's all make an effort to get these distributed and in our local markets. 

[00:22:19] Sheila Bennett: Yes. 

[00:22:19] Jen Kern: How'd I do?

[00:22:20] Sheila Bennett: And you know, and he gets us an opportunity to visit restaurants in your 

[00:22:23] Jen Kern: Yeah. Yeah. 

[00:22:25] Sheila Bennett: which also can drive sales and talk about it on social media, show what you're doing, post a photo, you know, and tag us coregives.org. 

[00:22:33] Jen Kern: Okay. 

[00:22:34] Sheila Bennett: 'Cause that's what we do is we give. 

[00:22:36] Jen Kern: Yeah. Yes. You give hope, and that is wonderful. 

[00:22:41] Why CORE? Why now?

[00:22:43] Sheila Bennett: Oh my goodness. Well, I mean, it's why every day, but I tell you that it really, the pandemic did shine a light on our industry. And how this industry gives back to the communities in which they serve, you know, is the industry of opportunity. And we just recognized the need to appreciate the workforce and to be for them, there for them when they need it the most. And this is definitely, I think too, um, companies also are looking at creative ways of providing more benefits and value to their employees, as well and to take care of them in creative, in different ways. And this is one of your answers, there are so many different things you can do, but this is just one way to say, "Well, there is a resource we know about that we want you to know about that they're there when you need them the most." 

[00:23:32] Jen Kern: Yeah. And I love how your logo is a heart, 

[00:23:35] Sheila Bennett: Hm. 

[00:23:35] Jen Kern: with a little fork and spoon in the middle of it. So, it's so cool. 

[00:23:38] Sheila Bennett: Yeah, thank you. 

[00:23:40] Well, that doesn't straits the industry in which we serve. 

[00:23:43] Jen Kern: We care, and we're about people, and I'm so grateful. By the way, I want to give a shout-out to Luke Kirshner at Fat Brands 'cause he introduced us. He said, "You really need to talk to Sheila at CORE."

[00:23:53] And that's how the word gets out. We talk about these things with each other. We refer each other, you know, to different organizations so that we can get the word out. And this is definitely worth getting the word out about. 

[00:24:04] So, what do you say to the person that's listening right now, that's like, "Oh, it's just another non-profit. They probably keep 50% of the money. The money doesn't go to the people. Why should I give?" What do you say to them?

[00:24:16] Sheila Bennett: Well, I say, you know, 75 cents of every dollar that you donate goes directly to a family. We're a direct provider. We're actually putting money in hands. We're paying bills directly. We also have a process that is vetted to make sure that we are transparent. You know, we're also very responsible for the funds that come in, and my goal is to be the best in class.

[00:24:39] So, I need to raise more money. And so I can grant more money to maintain the best in class of 80-20. My goal is to have 80 cents of every dollar going to a family. Okay, but too, there were also ways that anybody, if everyone in this industry just donated $5 or more to CORE, we could raise the millions of dollars needed to help more families.

[00:25:02] The average grant, just to kind of put some perspective into place, a grant could range from $500 to $4,000, based on that specific situation. The average grant last year was $2,400. So, keeping that in mind now, if it is a natural disaster, what we do there is there is a set amount that's awarded for natural disasters, and that is $1,500 in a gift card.

[00:25:29] B, we add $100 for each child. So, if you have five children, you might get a $2,000 gift card. Well, if you've lost your income or your job, that $2,000 means a lot to you, but also, what we learned with the tornadoes in Mayfield, Kentucky, a lot of the employees there didn't know about CORE, even though the Kentucky restaurant association, as well as many state restaurant associations, will include information about CORE in their newsletter because we're a resource.

[00:26:00] And we've got content on that communication resource center, too, that if any state restaurant associations are listening right now or you're on the board of a state restaurant association, go there and send them these communications because we've got one just for every day, awareness about CORE and to around natural disasters.

[00:26:19] So, when the tornadoes hit your state or hurricane or floods or fires, that's already crafted, that you can customize and send out in your, in emails and newsletters to your members. So, the folks in Mayfield, Kentucky, found out about us when I emailed their state restaurant association directly in December. The chair of the board happens to own a restaurant in Mayfield, Kentucky, Carr’s Steakhouse. And Daniel reached out to me and said, "Well, I have 30 employees, and my restaurant's a pile of rubble. And some of them also lost their homes." But also, some of the families had a medical diagnosis or illness that they were battling through. So, they qualified under that criterion, which was more than the natural disaster.

[00:27:04] So, we just required documentation, and we've helped so far in 19 families in that community. 

[00:27:10] Jen Kern: Oh, that's wonderful. That is just wonderful. And I really appreciate you making a good shout-out because, you know, knowing that the average grant is $2,400, Qu is partnering with CORE this month, particularly. And we're doing an event around both the marketing executive group and NRA. Our goal is to raise what I would say is kind of a measly $5,000.

[00:27:34] I'm hoping to hit 10, but our initial goal is to get to five. That's only going to support two families, I mean, using the average amount. 

[00:27:43] Sheila Bennett: Sure. 

[00:27:44] Jen Kern: And so, I just think, I mean, if you really think of $2,400, it's not that much for a medical diagnosis of any sort. So, again, encourage folks to go to, to your website, coregives.org.

[00:27:58] I have also got a page on my website for giving for our campaign, as well. And I'll put that link in the podcast show notes for anyone interested. But I'm really hoping we can help you drive. Like you said, you need support. You need to be hiring a marketing person. You need to get the word out. I was just on the phone with someone from DoorDash. I'm like they should be, like, blasting this across all their sites.

[00:28:18] Jen Kern: Like, we need to get this word out. How many families have you supported this year so far?

[00:28:24] Sheila Bennett: Oh my goodness. This year we've granted roughly $265,000. And, yeah, because I just had the metrics up again, we have so many metrics running in my head. 

[00:28:36] Jen Kern: I'm sorry I'm asking too; I'm asking a lot too.

[00:28:38] Sheila Bennett: You're asking a lot of questions. Actually, I had a call the other day. This is my notebook. My Bible says we've granted out $286,000, just my notes, is helped 143 families, 276 children, 489 people. And that's just so far today, last year, keep in mind, we granted out 700,000. We're already trending ahead of last year. 

[00:29:04] Jen Kern: Okay.

[00:29:04] Sheila Bennett: So, we're getting the word out, but still we have some weekends like Mother's day, we did not get one application. But then, I have a feeling a lot of people were either busy 'cause it's one of the busiest days in the restaurant industry, or folks were also at home with their families. 

[00:29:18] Jen Kern: Yeah. Do you have to turn away applications ever?

[00:29:22] We've not had to turn away applications, but we have caught fraud at times. So those are, are disqualified. 

[00:29:30] Jen Kern: Okay. 

[00:29:31] Okay. 

[00:29:31] Sheila Bennett: We turn them away if they do not meet qualifications. 

[00:29:34] And we communicate with them, as well. And the process is this, an applicant can apply online or they can be referred. We get the information, we speak with each applicant.

[00:29:45] We learn more about their case, and we ask for documentation, then we follow up if we haven't received documentation. And then, the cases are sent to a committee, and we have a committee meeting each Wednesday, and these cases are presented, discussed, and reviewed. And that's what we determine what they're asking for and what we award. For example... 

[00:30:09] Jen Kern: It sounds like a lot of work for four people. You say you only have four people on your team. 

[00:30:13] Sheila Bennett: Four and a half. 

[00:30:14] Jen Kern: That's a lot. That sounds like a lot of work. 

[00:30:17] Sheila Bennett: It's worth it. 

[00:30:19] It is so worth, it is a lot of work. That's why we're 75-25 right now. I want to be able to grant out more. During the year of COVID though, we grew, I mean, it was just amazing. We, before that, they had granted out almost $300,000 in 2019. So, imagine, I've already right now hit almost what they granted out in 2019.

[00:30:41] And this is only May. 

[00:30:42] Jen Kern: Yeah. So, you're growing, the word is getting out.

[00:30:44] Sheila Bennett: Yes. Last year was $700,000, and we know it's going to be, right now, we're in trend to probably do eight, but I want it to be more. But, again, I need more funding coming in. So with that, there are ways that anyone can support CORE through our corporate partnership program. And we can brainstorm with you on cause marketing ideation and ways to raise money.

[00:31:07] Also, restaurants, we're going to have a Summer of Hope campaign this summer. We just met on it yesterday, launching the last week of July and going for one month that we're inviting restaurants to do a Roundup promotion or implement a Roundup promotion or at a site of hope, ask your guests for a donation to CORE, dollar or more. And that way, it takes a lot of the pressure off of the restaurant to raise money. But we also have some restaurant groups right now that are raising money for CORE, and they do it through beverage promotions. Because, again, we were founded in the beverage vertical. So, a lot of our partners and sponsors like Tito's or Jose Cuervo, or Sam Adams.

[00:31:49] Uh, Rodney Strong Vineyards. They will partner with restaurant groups for to implement a beverage promotion in which donations are coming to CORE. So, for example, Smokey Bones has a year-long promotion with a Tito's vodka strawberry lemonade. Race to your closest Smokey Bones. If one is in your community, please order that drink. One, drink responsibly, and then, B, they're donating a dollar to each beverage selection sold to CORE. Bar Louie has a blueberry margarita promotion going through July 5. World of Beer has a promotion going through the end of June with two beverages, where proceeds are supporting CORE. 

[00:32:34] Jen Kern: Wonderful. Wonderful. So, now we need to get Chipotle or someone like that to do it, do a special burrito, a CORE burrito. 

[00:32:41] Sheila Bennett: Oh, there you go. Anybody? Yes, there was some, you know, restaurant groups that could partner. And I will say that there are many restaurant organizations that have identified as Smokey Bones for, in particular, they've identified us as their charity of choice because A, they wanted to support a cause that supported their employees with children.

[00:33:03] And they also wanted to select a cause that helped employees across our nation, in our industry. 

[00:33:09] Jen Kern: Yeah. 

[00:33:09] Sheila Bennett: And that just warms my heart. 

[00:33:12] Jen Kern: How else can people help, if folks listening, I mean, you, you've covered, you know, folks work in that, work in restaurants, some partner companies, what are some other tangible things that people can do to, to help support you? 

[00:33:24] Sheila Bennett: We've got a list. 

[00:33:26] Jen Kern: Yay. 

[00:33:27] Sheila Bennett: Number one, if you want to be a volunteer website coregives.org and on the very top menu bar is ways to get involved link. Click on that link and go to volunteer. 

[00:33:40] Jen Kern: Hmm. 

[00:33:40] Sheila Bennett: And you can sign up to be an ambassador. And an ambassador is someone who also leverages their voice of CORE to get the word out through social media, through your network, you can help us find partners, engage your company.

[00:33:54] Also, be part of our Summer of Hope campaign and our boots on the ground. Also, this is something everybody can do. I'm just going to ask the question. And I think that we would hear a lot of shouts of, "Me, me, me." If we were hearing voices, but how many people are shopping on Amazon these days? 

[00:34:14] Jen Kern: Me, me, me.

[00:34:16] Sheila Bennett: And me. 

[00:34:17] Jen Kern: Every day.

[00:34:18] Sheila Bennett: I have to remember to go to AmazonSmile, and let CORE children of restaurant employees. Now, keep in mind is the logo with the heart and the beverage glass and the fork and the spoon in it. There are several cores out there, but you want this particular CORE. Choose CORE as the charity of choice, and they make a donation to CORE for everything you buy through Amazon. 

[00:34:43] Jen Kern: Oh, nice. 

[00:34:45] Sheila Bennett: Yes. 

[00:34:46] Jen Kern: There we go.

[00:34:47] Sheila Bennett: Another thing that you can do is a lot of people will conduct Facebook fundraisers, anytime a year and also on your birthday. 

[00:34:57] Jen Kern: Ooh.

[00:34:59] Sheila Bennett: Birthday fundraisers, two scores your charity. And the best practices for that, we've even got instructions on our website of how to support CORE through a Facebook fundraiser. 

[00:35:11] Jen Kern: Can you do it on Instagram?

[00:35:14] Sheila Bennett: I don't know if you can do it on Instagram. That's a good question. 

[00:35:16] Jen Kern: Because yeah, 'cause they're linked, but. 

[00:35:19] Sheila Bennett: Um, but. 

[00:35:20] Jen Kern: Yeah. 

[00:35:20] Sheila Bennett: But, anyway, on Facebook, and I'll tell you, my key study last year, I established a goal to raise a thousand dollars. I was like, I thought that was a big audacious goal. And so, I took information from that communication resource center that is public to everyone.

[00:35:38] And that's the one for anyone to go and get some information about CORE. And so, I took some of those stats. I put it in my content and said, "This is who I'd like for you to support, make a donation. And this is why, and this is my goal. I want to raise the thousand dollars." I raised a thousand dollars in four hours.

[00:35:56] So, then I bumped my goal to $1,500, and I raised that $1,500 by the end of the day. 

[00:36:03] Jen Kern: Wow. 

[00:36:04] Sheila Bennett: I was stunned. People were so generous 

[00:36:07] and, I mean, I was getting some really, you know, I actually, I raised more than $1,500. 

[00:36:14] So, lesson learned, I'm going to set a bigger audacious goal this year. 

[00:36:18] Jen Kern: Yeah. Yeah. Okay. I hope that happens with my $5,000 goal. I hope I am pleasantly surprised and we exceeded. 

[00:36:27] Sheila Bennett: You just never know. I mean, how many families collectively can we help? So. 

[00:36:32] Jen Kern: Yeah. What else do people need to know? Is there, is there anything we haven't covered about CORE that would be, that you'd like to cover and provide background into?

[00:36:41] Sheila Bennett: Well, you know, I mean, we've got a board that's very passionate, that many have been on board since day one, you know, supporting this organization in a variety of ways. We're also getting awareness out to the supplier community and restaurants around the country. And we just need help to be able to do that.

[00:36:58] We also, for partners like, you may go and see our resource center and say, "Oh, there's some good stuff there." But we also have an exclusive corporate partner resource center for those that sign an agreement with us to raise money on our behalf. But also, what's unique about CORE, a minimum commitment is not required.

[00:37:17] Anybody can raise money for CORE because we're supporting our industry. Number two, we do have partnership levels where you will be recognized on our website and get access to the corporate partner exclusive resource center. I only give that to organizations that technically make a commitment to CORE. And it has videos, contents, so much more information. 

[00:37:43] Jen Kern: Yeah. I, I find it hard to believe you don't have a marketing person because you do have a lot of great collateral in there.

[00:37:48] Sheila Bennett: Well, that's because the first year and a half, it was, our heart and soul was put into this organization of working seven days a week, 12 to 14 hours a day, creating and rebuilding the organization. 

[00:38:01] Jen Kern: Yeah, you did a great job. 

[00:38:03] Sheila Bennett: And that, for an instant, just helped out, too. 

[00:38:05] Jen Kern: Yeah, I bet. 

[00:38:06] Sheila Bennett: Thank goodness for them. 

[00:38:08] Jen Kern: Yeah. So, I asked you a question a little bit ago, like, "Why CORE, why now?" And I have my own answer for that, which is, you know, the restaurant industry, and you mentioned this, through the pandemic, has never really struggled as much as it has these past couple of years.

[00:38:23] And now, you know, we're coming out and looking at the worst labor shortages. And it's not, you know, I don't, you could call it a war on talent, but it's a thinning workforce, and there's labor shortages, and it's been harder than ever to recruit and keep people in this industry. 

[00:38:40] Sheila Bennett: Yes. 

[00:38:41] Jen Kern: And it's going to continue.

[00:38:43] It's not. I don't, I don't see it getting any better anytime soon. And so, my answer to that, and I'm just, you know, asking myself and answering the question here is, we need to support, and this will be part of my labor series; I've been doing a labor series recently, we need to support our employees more than ever before and encourage people, give them reasons to stay in the industry.

[00:39:06] Right? 

[00:39:07] And this, to me, is one of them. 

[00:39:09] Sheila Bennett: Oh, absolutely. Thank you for that. And two, I will share with you that, back in November, Technomic conducted a state of the workforce study, and I might have that name of the study incorrect, but they wanted to know really what's the state of the workforce. And that was conducted in November, and they incorporated a question.

[00:39:29] "Well, do you have legally dependent children?" Because we wanted to understand how many employees in this industry have legally dependent children. Now, we believe this number is higher because what is the number one reason why a lot of people are not going back to work, and that's challenges the child care. 

[00:39:46] Jen Kern: Yeah.

[00:39:46] Sheila Bennett: But to let you know that number as of last November was 55% of the workforce, and the food and beverage operations industry is 55%. 

[00:39:57] That's kind of shocking because when you think, like the stat I've heard is that 75% of the workforce is between 16 and 24. And so, if you think, if you put that next to the 55% have children. 

[00:40:15] Sheila Bennett: Well, the average age of our grantee last year was 38. So, I believe that age is trending upward versus younger because two, um, what our industry was challenged with this past year, as well is the fact that a lot of the high school students and college students were not working in the restaurant industry. 

[00:40:34] Jen Kern: Yeah.

[00:40:35] Sheila Bennett: And that's where you were getting that labor workforce historically. 

[00:40:39] Jen Kern: Yeah.

[00:40:39] Sheila Bennett: So, and they were not working. So, I think that number, I think that age range has changed. 

[00:40:44] Jen Kern: Yeah. And I'm wondering if that age if that stat is mostly for like QSR or maybe fast casuals 

[00:40:51] Sheila Bennett: Yeah. 

[00:40:52] Jen Kern: versus you're looking at a much bigger hemisphere of, of workers 

[00:40:55] Sheila Bennett: Absolutely. 

[00:40:56] Jen Kern: when you pull in full, food service, stadiums, colleges, bars, you know, things like that, it's, it, that's a different age group. Yeah.

[00:41:04] Sheila Bennett: It is, it is cause full service, you've got to be a certain age to be able to serve alcohol. 

[00:41:09] Jen Kern: Yeah. 

[00:41:11] Wonderful. Well, Sheila, I appreciate you so much coming on and talking about this amazing organization. You know that I'm here to help however I can, and sign me up 

[00:41:19] Sheila Bennett: Thank you. 

[00:41:20] Jen Kern: what, whenever, and wherever you want. I'm going to go print those things because I have a couple of restaurants I'm going to go drop them by this weekend that I'm thinking of already.

[00:41:28] Um, but before we wrap, are there any more shout-outs you'd like to do, any announcements about upcoming events, campaigns? Anything we didn't cover?

[00:41:38] Sheila Bennett: Oh my goodness. Well, we just ended The Inspiring Hope. 

[00:41:42] Jen Kern: Okay. 

[00:41:42] Sheila Bennett: Which is a way for corporate partners to renew and make a $10,000 commitment or more. So, we're recognizing those brands that renewed or signed up to be a partner this year by April 15. So, from that, then we're going to have Summer of Hope, which starts out in July as a personal giving campaign.

[00:41:59] So, even companies can encourage their employees to make a donation and match it. And you get partnership credit for that. Then B, we will have the Roundup promotion launching the end of July, going for one month that we encourage any restaurant, "Just sign up for and help us raise, you know, critical funds that are needed to help our industry as awareness is increasing."

[00:42:21] And then, in November, we will have our serving up Hope campaign, which is our gratitude campaign. And there will be more organizations that choose to conduct fundraisers during that season of Thanksgiving. And we are going to be at various conferences still this year, the flavor experience; we're going to be MEG, the marketing executive group. Several of our partners, as well are conducting fundraising activities around the show, or they're having customer appreciation events at which are going to be fundraisers for CORE.

[00:42:55] But that's what they're going to be sharing out, which, Jen, I know you're doing something special for us. So, thank you. 

[00:43:00] Jen Kern: Yeah.

[00:43:01] Sheila Bennett: And through that. So, we've got other events as well. We'll be at the IFMA Presidents Conference this fall, hoping to inspire the supplier community to also support the work at CORE, which directly supports your customers and their employees. 

[00:43:16] So... 

[00:43:17] Jen Kern: Wow, looks like you're going to be busy, Sheila. 

[00:43:19] Sheila Bennett: We are, we are. 

[00:43:21] Jen Kern: All good stuff. All really, really good stuff. 

[00:43:24] Sheila Bennett: It is. 

[00:43:24] Jen Kern: Thank you so much for coming on. As, as you said, I mean, I don't know if this show we'll be out, hopefully we'll get this out before the marketing executive group and NRA. But if you're attending, please find Sheila or me so that we can give you lots more information on CORE and particularly look up Sheila so that you can think about ways that you can engage with this fantastic organization.

[00:43:46] How can people reach you?

[00:43:48] Sheila @, S H E I L A @, core, C O R E, gives, G I V E S.org. 

[00:43:56] Jen Kern: There you go, sheila@coregives.org. 

[00:43:59] Sheila Bennett: Yes. 

[00:44:00] Jen Kern: Great. Well, appreciate you, Sheila. Appreciate everything you're doing for our industry and particularly for those employees with children who are having a hard time. Thank you for being a difference-maker and reinventing restaurants for the better. 

[00:44:16] Sheila Bennett: Right. 

[00:44:17] Thank you. 

[00:44:18] Jen Kern: Have a great day. 

[00:44:18] Sheila Bennett: And thank you, Jen, so very much.