Two Chefs Who Lost a Job, Wedding, & Their Savings

Every one we know lost their jobs this week. As residents of Seattle, Breckin and I have seen the Covid-19 virus wreak havoc on American Restaurants and Bars since its first day in the country. If people haven't completely closed their doors, they've only managed to stay open with novel menus, to-go only options, and shortened hours.  The two of us worked 700 hours a month the past 3 years straight. We're now down to 16 a week. You might've heard about this pandemic impacting our industry with immediate consequence. We can't tell you how much we're struggling, and how hard it will be in the coming months.  We cook to bring people together, and this virus has torn us all apart. Spring is now here, and restaurants would normally expect to pick up more and more business from now through summer. We typically count winter as the slow season, with the hopes of making enough during the warmer months to balance the books. But now our slow months are the only revenue we had for the year.  Breckin was the Chef of Walrus and The Carpenter in Seattle. Esquire recently named it one of the 40 most important American restaurants of the last decade. The governor ordered it closed. She's out of a job. I work  at Copine, a French-American restaurant down the street from Breckin led by a 3 Michelin Star trained team. We're now only doing take-out orders to try to ride the storm.  With a modest income from less than 20 hours of work a week, plus unemployment benefits, we're not able to pay our bills by our second month in quarantine.  We're asking you to help us get through this.  We just postponed our wedding that was to be held on July 10th in Chicago. With no knowledge of when we'll be back to our normal employment, we can't take on the debt of a wedding.  But all we want is to be able to pay our bills. Please help us get through this incredibly tough time. Not being able to cook for others in our restaurants is heartbreaking.  But we can overcome this and be back in the kitchen with your help. If we raise enough money, we'll be able to start giving back to the restaurant community here in Seattle. Please donate, and please share with your community. Thank you for being there, Jim and Breckin