After less than a year of business ownership, the unthinkable has happened to our little restaurant in Moorhead, MN. COVID-19 is the perfect storm to wipe out the restaurant industry, and because of mounting health risks, we decided to close our doors for the foreseeable future on March 28th. We did this for the safety of our community, our employees, and ourselves as owners with plans to strictly comply with government issued stay-at-home orders. More than six weeks later, we have been pushed to our limits emotionally and financially. With no end in sight to this health crisis, we have chosen to move forward with our reopening or risk losing everything we've worked so hard to have.
We are beyond grateful to have secured a loan that will help us pay our employees. They have stood by us time and time again. They have always been one of our top priorities, and we are looking forward to bringing them back to Rustica. But the reality we are facing is that this loan will not help with startup costs to get takeout going again. As new business owners, it has been difficult to acquire additional financial assistance, and we've been exhausting these efforts.
This is why we must set our pride to the wayside and ask our community for help to reach our goal to reopen for takeout on Tuesday, May 19th and when the time is right, open our doors to you again. Your donations will go toward our startup costs (inventory, supplies, etc.) and will ultimately, lift us up through what really has been the "worst that could happen".
Rustica wouldn't be here without the support of our community and we will forever appreciate whatever assistance you can provide at this time. Any donation, large or small, is appreciated. If you are unable to donate financially but still want to help, we are working on acquiring reusable cloth masks to keep our staff safe. If you can donate cloth masks or have other ideas on how you can help, please reach out.
We want you to know we are truly humbled by this situation. Asking for help in this way was never on the table for us and is very difficult to do. This health crisis could not have struck at a more vulnerable time for us as new business owners. We are hospitality workers -- we want nothing more than to be able to take care of YOU and we look forward to that day. Thank you for your consideration and your patronage.
We are beyond grateful to have secured a loan that will help us pay our employees. They have stood by us time and time again. They have always been one of our top priorities, and we are looking forward to bringing them back to Rustica. But the reality we are facing is that this loan will not help with startup costs to get takeout going again. As new business owners, it has been difficult to acquire additional financial assistance, and we've been exhausting these efforts.
This is why we must set our pride to the wayside and ask our community for help to reach our goal to reopen for takeout on Tuesday, May 19th and when the time is right, open our doors to you again. Your donations will go toward our startup costs (inventory, supplies, etc.) and will ultimately, lift us up through what really has been the "worst that could happen".
Rustica wouldn't be here without the support of our community and we will forever appreciate whatever assistance you can provide at this time. Any donation, large or small, is appreciated. If you are unable to donate financially but still want to help, we are working on acquiring reusable cloth masks to keep our staff safe. If you can donate cloth masks or have other ideas on how you can help, please reach out.
We want you to know we are truly humbled by this situation. Asking for help in this way was never on the table for us and is very difficult to do. This health crisis could not have struck at a more vulnerable time for us as new business owners. We are hospitality workers -- we want nothing more than to be able to take care of YOU and we look forward to that day. Thank you for your consideration and your patronage.