Restaurant Week funds feed people without homes

Restaurant Week funds feed people without homes

Some of the money used to purchase meals during KC Restaurant Week in January is funding food for families facing homelessness.

The big picture: Restaurant Week is put on by Visit KC and the Greater Kansas City Restaurant Association, with 10% of the proceeds supporting their charitable funds plus a local nonprofit.

  • This year's recipient was ReStart.

    • Driving the news: Organizers behind the annual dining initiative presented ReStart with a $125,134 check at its Ninth Street building on Tuesday.

    ReStart CEO Stephanie Boyer (right) getting the check right by the nonprofit's kitchen. Photo: Travis Meier/Axios

  • "This money could not come at a better time," ReStart CEO Stephanie Boyer said at the event, adding that the nonprofit recently tripled its capacity with a new family-focused facility in Midtown.

    • Context: ReStart serves nearly 90,000 meals to more than 1,300 people in need each year, Boyer said in a Visit KC statement.

  • ReStart will use the funds for its meal programs and nutrition education.

    • The latest: ReStart earlier this month cut the ribbon on its first low-income housing project, the first of several planned units under its UpStart development arm.

  • And last week ReStart opened its 45-unit Family Lodge facility at the former Midtown Quality Inn & Suites.

    • What's next: The 18th annual Restaurant Week will take place Jan. 8-18, Lauren Logan, Visit KC's director of partnerships and events, said Tuesday.