By Southwester Staff

In late April, Washington Nationals Philanthropies and the Greater Washington Community Foundation announced a new partnership with Get Shift Done to launch the Get Shift Done DMV initiative to coordinate, schedule, and pay adversely affected hourly workers in the hospitality industry to work shifts for local food access providers.

Get Shift Done DMV provides wages of $15 an hour to workers left jobless by the coronavirus pandemic. These workers are filling the critical roles of providing meals for neighbors in need that, prior to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, were performed by volunteers. The program was created to fill the gap between the reduction of volunteers and the increased need among food banks and other nonprofits with those from the food and service industry in need of supplemental income. Interested restaurants, non-profit partners, and individual workers can visit getshiftdone.org/dmv to access sign-up portals. 

Through its work supporting food access in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Nationals Philanthropies became aware of the innovative program and convened Get Shift Done along with local service industry leaders, credible nonprofits addressing food insecurity, and influential funders to help the Greater Washington region meet the surging demand for food access. 

“Food insecurity is both a systemic problem and an ever-increasing concern for families across the DMV. Through our work to open Nationals Park as a cooking and packaging site for meals and delivering grants to on-the-ground partners getting food to those who need it most, it was evident that even more was needed to meet demand,” said Nationals Philanthropies CEO Tal Alter. “Get Shift Done complements and extends the incredible coordination of food banks and providers across the region while simultaneously filling critical packaging, preparation, and delivery roles with members of our local hospitality community who are out of work.”

For more information or to support this fund, go to getshiftdone.org/dmv.

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