TORONTO — DoorDash has announced the launch of the 2024-25 Restaurant Disaster Relief Fund, together with its partners, Hello Alice, and the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN). The fund will provide an additional $1 million in relief grants to eligible local restaurants impacted by disasters. The grants, each $10,000, can help cover essential operation expenses such as rent, repairs for damages, mortgage payments, payroll, and other critical bills. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis through May 2025.
As part of its commitment to empowering local communities, DoorDash created the Restaurant Disaster Relief Fund to help restaurants re-build in the aftermath of natural disasters. Since 2021, the fund has provided more than $1.8 million in relief grants to more than 180 local restaurants across the U.S., Puerto Rico, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
“When a crisis disrupts business, access to funding can make all the difference. That’s why we’ve kept this program going for three years,” says Sueli Shaw, head of Social Impact at DoorDash. “If local restaurants are able to recover from disasters, communities as a whole recover stronger, too.”
Close to half of applicants from last year’s fund said they had to close for more than a month due to the disaster, with weather-related flooding being the most common disaster type.
To apply for the 2024/25 Restaurant Disaster Relief Fund, restaurants must have been impacted by an eligible state or federally declared natural disaster, have between one and three brick-and-mortar locations, have fewer than 50 employees per location, have been open for at least six months, and have revenues of USD$3 million or less per location in the past 12 months, and be located in the U.S., Puerto Rico, New Zealand, Australia or Canada. Applications must be submitted within 12 months of the disaster declaration.
