Botanica Staff Relief Fund
Donation protected
Hello, everyone! First off, THANK YOU for visiting this page and considering helping out our team. Here are the basic things to know:
1) 100% of the money raised here will go directly to our staff of over 50 people (many of whom have been working with us since day one!)
2) Each donation will be thanked with a gift card at a value of 50% of your donation! For those not in LA, this can take the form of credit to our online shop (which will be back up and running once we reopen).*
And here's the longer story:
For nearly 3 years, we've been lucky enough to operate in our beloved neighborhood of Silver Lake. Our business is based on a foundational commitment to sustainability and what we like to call "nourishing hospitality." Our daily mission is to nourish our community as fully and thoughtfully as possible; how challenging, then, to find ourselves in a situation where providing nourishment could also be endangering the health and well-being of that community.
Due to the health hazards of Covid-19, we've decided to temporarily close our doors until we feel we can operate in the most responsible manner possible. This decision didn't come easily; we've gone back and forth dozens of times, agonizing over the right path forward. The pull to provide for our community, especially during such a stark time, is strong; the desire to provide for our staff is paramount.
However, we also feel a strong responsibility to public health and safety. Until clear guidelines exist for how a business like ours can safely operate without jeopardizing the health of its staff or its customers, we do not feel it is safe or wise to open in any form.
Even if/when we reopen as a market/to-go business, the work that we will be able to provide for our team of nearly 50 employees will be a minute fraction of what they have come to rely on. (What we are asking for here—$50,000—is less than one two-week payroll for our business, when we're in full-swing.) And as of now, no governmental plan exists for providing financial relief to the millions of hospitality workers who have lost their jobs in the last week (or the businesses who have had to shut their doors).
Our team is incredibly diverse and yet—across age, nationality, economic strata and even language barriers—they are a close-knit family. We love our beautiful space and our nourishing food, but we firmly believe that the true magic of Botanica lies in the relationships formed within our walls.
The faces of Botanica, those behind the scenes and on the floor, are the essence of who we are. They're the people paying the ultimate price for the inefficiencies and lack of support in the hospitality industry; their paychecks are gone, and living on unemployment in Los Angeles is next to impossible.
We'd love your help to support our beloved family—many of whom have families of their own—by giving anything you can to our staff fund. 100% of the proceeds will be pooled to help pay their bills, rent, groceries, medication and other staples that they are struggling to manage at this time.
Thank you for helping take care of the people who work so hard to take care of you. We can't wait to open our doors again and thank you in person! Until then, stay safe, healthy and as sane as can be. #SmallBusinessRelief
LOVE & THANKS,
Botanica
PS: We have loads of cooking inspiration for you on our recipes website, Botanica Mag!
PPS: Thoughts? Ideas? Questions? Feelings? We're at [email redacted]
PPSS: Want to just buy a gift card outright? Here's how!
*gift cards will be sent digitally, via email, once we reopen fully
1) 100% of the money raised here will go directly to our staff of over 50 people (many of whom have been working with us since day one!)
2) Each donation will be thanked with a gift card at a value of 50% of your donation! For those not in LA, this can take the form of credit to our online shop (which will be back up and running once we reopen).*
And here's the longer story:
For nearly 3 years, we've been lucky enough to operate in our beloved neighborhood of Silver Lake. Our business is based on a foundational commitment to sustainability and what we like to call "nourishing hospitality." Our daily mission is to nourish our community as fully and thoughtfully as possible; how challenging, then, to find ourselves in a situation where providing nourishment could also be endangering the health and well-being of that community.
Due to the health hazards of Covid-19, we've decided to temporarily close our doors until we feel we can operate in the most responsible manner possible. This decision didn't come easily; we've gone back and forth dozens of times, agonizing over the right path forward. The pull to provide for our community, especially during such a stark time, is strong; the desire to provide for our staff is paramount.
However, we also feel a strong responsibility to public health and safety. Until clear guidelines exist for how a business like ours can safely operate without jeopardizing the health of its staff or its customers, we do not feel it is safe or wise to open in any form.
Even if/when we reopen as a market/to-go business, the work that we will be able to provide for our team of nearly 50 employees will be a minute fraction of what they have come to rely on. (What we are asking for here—$50,000—is less than one two-week payroll for our business, when we're in full-swing.) And as of now, no governmental plan exists for providing financial relief to the millions of hospitality workers who have lost their jobs in the last week (or the businesses who have had to shut their doors).
Our team is incredibly diverse and yet—across age, nationality, economic strata and even language barriers—they are a close-knit family. We love our beautiful space and our nourishing food, but we firmly believe that the true magic of Botanica lies in the relationships formed within our walls.
The faces of Botanica, those behind the scenes and on the floor, are the essence of who we are. They're the people paying the ultimate price for the inefficiencies and lack of support in the hospitality industry; their paychecks are gone, and living on unemployment in Los Angeles is next to impossible.
We'd love your help to support our beloved family—many of whom have families of their own—by giving anything you can to our staff fund. 100% of the proceeds will be pooled to help pay their bills, rent, groceries, medication and other staples that they are struggling to manage at this time.
Thank you for helping take care of the people who work so hard to take care of you. We can't wait to open our doors again and thank you in person! Until then, stay safe, healthy and as sane as can be. #SmallBusinessRelief
LOVE & THANKS,
Botanica
PS: We have loads of cooking inspiration for you on our recipes website, Botanica Mag!
PPS: Thoughts? Ideas? Questions? Feelings? We're at [email redacted]
PPSS: Want to just buy a gift card outright? Here's how!
*gift cards will be sent digitally, via email, once we reopen fully
Organizer and beneficiary
Heather Sperling
Organizer
Los Angeles, CA
Emily Fiffer
Beneficiary
