As the hospitality industry prepares to suffer more losses as tighter restrictions begin Saturday, Dec. 26, Dr. Reginald Coopwood and his wife, Erica, announced a new “pay it forward” fund Tuesday, Dec. 22, to help them and other service industry employees.
Knowing the new Health Directive 16 was coming, the president and CEO of Regional One Health and his wife called friends Elliot and Kimberly Perry over the weekend, and the idea grew from there for Pay It Forward Midsouth.
The fund is managed by the Community Foundation of Greater Memphis. It is designed to help hospitality workers specifically.
With $100,000 combined starter contributions from Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, Baptist Memorial Health Care and Regional One, organizers hope the fund will reach $3 million or more by Jan. 30.
“During this timeframe, all donations to the (Community Foundation’s) Mid-South COVID-19 Regional Response Fund will go directly to agencies supporting hospitality and service industry workers who lose employment or whose work hours and pay have been decreased,” Coopwood said.
The couple announced the new fund Tuesday at the COVID-19 joint task force briefing.
FedEx contributed $25,000.
“We have requests out to the other major corporations in this community to support these efforts,” Coopwood said.
Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris, Coopwood said, has promised $50,000 from the county when the fund reaches $750,000.
“We invite all Midsoutherners, go to your Facebook lists, your followers on Twitter and Instagram and challenge them, challenge them, that they may participate in this effort to raise a significant amount of dollars, where we have Midsoutherners helping Midsoutherners in pain,” Coopwood said.
The Coopwoods gave $10,000, said Erica Stiff-Coopwood, referencing the biblical adage that her left hand and right hand generally don’t know what the other is doing.
“But today they will because it will go for the glory ... We are Memphis strong, and we can do this,” she said.
The fund will provide $300 to eligible workers. For details, including how to apply, go Welcome to Memphis or call (901) 543-5327.
The intent of the new Health Directive 16 is to save lives, said Shelby County Health Department health officer Dr. Bruce Randolph.
“We believe if we really commit ourselves to ‘Safer at Home’ practices for the next four weeks, we can lower the number of cases and subsequently, the deaths,” Randolph said at the briefing.
The new directive reduces the capacity of gyms and retail stores to 50% and restaurants to 25%.
Although bars and restaurants will be allowed to stay open as part of the compromise worked out behind closed doors, the Health Department minces no words in saying that on-site dining is a high-risk activity.
“If you choose to do it, wear a mask until the food comes to the table and maintain six feet of separation,” Randolph said.
The Health Department is taking heat for limiting the capacity in restaurants t0 25% but allowing big-box retailers to operate at 50% capacity.
“You cannot compare a small restaurant to a big-box store,” said Alisa Haushalter, Health Department director, delineating the differences, starting with their size and duration of stay.
In addition, she said patrons are taking their masks off and having ongoing contact with one or more servers.
“But then at the table six feet away, there might be another family or group that’s there for two hours. When you add all those things together, it’s a very high-risk environment for transmission,” she said.
People in big-box stores and groceries tend to pass by each other quickly, except when they are standing in line to pay, she noted.
“You’re actually not around other people for an extended period of time. It’s also much bigger airspace with turnover of air.”
The weight of Health Directive 16 also falls on employers to create plans for employees to work from home or to stagger workers and shifts.
The unofficial directive released to the media over the weekend continues to rankle. Haushalter offered more detail Tuesday, telling reporters it was shared with county mayors after one asked to see it in writing.
“It was a discussion document,” Haushalter said. “Someone clearly leaked it, which made it seem like it was a finalized document.”