HENRICO COUNTY, Va. -- In an effort to support locally-owned restaurants, Henrico County plans to buy meals for employees working on the front lines of the COVID-19 response.
County Manager John Vithoulkas announced the effort at the Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday.
The initiative involves purchasing meals from locally-owned restaurants, caterers, and other businesses for public safety workers and other other employees leading the community's response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Vithoulkas said interested businesses could fill out this form.To be eligible, a restaurant or related business must be locally owned, located in Henrico and able to accept credit card payments.
“Restaurants are a major contributor to our local economy, our school system and our community’s extraordinary quality of life,” Vithoulkas said. “Because the coronavirus has severely limited the public’s ability to congregate, many restaurants have been forced to close while others are hanging on, offering takeout service and deliveries. As a county, we have an opportunity to support these hardworking businesses and their dedicated staffs by feeding our police officers, firefighters, rescue squad volunteers and other employees who are devoting long hours and putting themselves at considerable risk to protect our community’s health and well-being."
The meals initiative is expected to start late this week with meals for on-duty personnel. It will not impact funding for other county services.