Program hopes to deliver 3,000 meals to Solano’s poor, homeless

Restaurants in Fairfield and Vallejo will prepare 3,200 meals for low-income families and the homeless over a 20-week period beginning in June.

The work is part of the Restaurant Resiliency Program of Solano County, which received a $100,000 grant, the Solano Small Business Development Center announced.

Restaurants will receive $25 for every hot meal they prepare.

“Any restaurant in Vallejo or Fairfield is eligible to participate in this program but we will be giving priority to those businesses with 15 or fewer employees because we know those are the ones that have been hardest hit by the pandemic,” Tim Murrill, director of the Solano-Napa SBDC, said in a statement. “We are so grateful for the generosity of Wells Fargo that will benefit our restaurants and low-income individuals in our community.”

The program is funded by Wells Fargo and administered by the Solano Small Business Development Center and the Workforce Development Board of Solano County.

A GoFundMe and other fundraisers are planned to raise an additional $50,000 to match the seed money provided by Wells Fargo.

“Supporting our hardest hit small local restaurants in keeping their doors open and retaining jobs, while also addressing the regional crisis of food insecurity, gives us great hope as we rebuild and recover together,” Erica Trejo, Wells Fargo senior vice president of Social Impact and Sustainability, said in the SBDC statement.

A restaurant interest form is available at www.solanonapasbdc.org/Restaurant-Resiliency-Program. An informational webinar is scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday.

For more information, call 646-1071 or go to bboyd@solanowdb.org.