The Power of 10 Independent Restaurant Relief Effort Joins Forces With Capital One To Fuel National Expansion

WASHINGTON, May 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Power of 10, a restaurant industry non-profit initiative whose mission is to bring restaurant workers back to work and provide access to food for those who need it the most, today announced that it has partnered with Capital One to fuel its national expansion. With this support, the initiative now operates in 30 local restaurants in Washington DC, Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, Dallas, Baltimore, Charlotte, and Richmond.

The national food crisis in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic has served as a wake-up call to restaurant industry leaders, including award-winning Washington, DC-based chef and restaurateur Erik Bruner-Yang, who created The Power of 10 to re-employ independent restaurant workers, sustain their business operations, and provide food to community members and frontline workers in their neighborhoods. Launched on March 26, The Power of 10 operates on simple math: for $10,000 a week, a restaurant can employ 10 full-time staff and make 1,000 well-balanced meals for those in need. To date, the effort has mobilized these resilient restaurateurs, re-employed their staff, and served approximately 20,000 meals.

"The Power of 10 launched locally with the generosity of many individuals and expanded nation-wide thanks to Capital One, who has stepped up in such a meaningful way to empower independent restaurants. It's all so humbling," said Bruner-Yang. "Until we can gather in our favorite neighborhood restaurants again, we will continue coming together to support them by providing jobs for their employees and meals for their neighbors."

"Capital One is proud to support The Power of 10, an extraordinary initiative started in our hometown, and to help expand this innovative program to eight cities across the country," said Andy Navarrete, Head of External Affairs, Capital One Financial. "Restaurants play a vital role in unifying the communities we serve, and we were eager to do our part to help in this urgent and unprecedented time of need. We are grateful for the opportunity to work with Erik and The Power of 10 to support restaurants, bring restaurant workers back to work, and provide food access to those on the frontlines of our country's fight against the COVID-19 pandemic." 

The new restaurants joining The Power of 10 thanks to Capital One's support include the following:

• Brenner Pass (Brittanny Anderson) in Richmond, VA;
• Destination Dumpling (Tristan Chin-Fatt and Deon Whiskey) in New York, NY;
• Ekiben (Stevie Chu) in Baltimore, MD;
• Excell's Kingston Eatery (Novar Excell) in New York, NY;
• Field Trip (JJ Johnson) in New York, NY;
• Frontier (Brian Jupiter) in Chicago, IL;
• Guelaguetza (Bricia Lopez) in Los Angeles, CA;
• Harper's Charlotte and Harper's Pineville (Ron Ahlert) in Charlotte, NC;
• Ina Mae (Brian Jupiter) in Chicago, IL;
• La Newyorkina (Fanny Gerson) in New York, NY;
• Mama Chang (Peter Chang) in Fairfax City, VA;
• Mi Tocaya Antojeria (Diana Davila) in Chicago, IL;
• Mighty Quinn's (Micha Magid) in New York, NY;
• Mot Hai Ba (Peja Krstic) in Dallas, TX; and
• Petra & the Beast (Misti Norris) in Dallas, TX.

Support from Capital One will also help sustain The Power of 10's current operations in these restaurants:

• ABC Pony (Chris Yates and Paolo Dungca) in Washington, DC;
• Cane (Peter Prime) in Washington, DC;
• Compass Rose (Marcelle G. Afram) in Washington, DC;
• District Fishwife (Fiona Lewis and Ben Friedman) in Washington, DC;
• Get a Hero Be A Hero (Paul Taylor) in Washington, DC;
• Good Stuff Eatery (Spike Mendelsohn) in Washington, DC;
• Maketto (Erik Bruner-Yang) in Washington, DC;
• Maydan (Marcelle G. Afram) in Washington, DC;
• Santa Rosa Taqueria (Spike Mendelsohn) in Washington, DC;
• Service Bar (Christine Kim) in Washington, DC;
• Sospeso in Washington DC;
• Stable (David Fritsche) in Washington DC;
• Sushi Kiyosuzu (Kiyoto and Ikuko Nagasu) in Los Angeles, CA; and
• We The Pizza (Spike Mendelsohn) in Washington, DC.

"I'm so thankful to be able to not only give back to our community but also to make such a real impact on the families of our kitchen staff that will be back to work with us, thanks to The Power of 10," said Bricia Lopez, owner of Guelaguetza in Los Angeles, who is working to feed frontline workers at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. "It's a very smart way of giving back that affects so many people in countless positive ways."

With Capital One's support and the funds raised from its individual contributions platform, The Power of 10 has exceeded $750,000 in funding to date. 

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About The Power of 10
The Power of 10 is a restaurant industry non-profit initiative whose mission is to aid independent restaurants across America by re-employing staff, sustaining business operations, and providing food to community members who need it the most. By raising $10,000 per week in donations, The Power of 10 can re-employ 10 full-time restaurant workers and provide 1,000 free meals. For those looking to donate or get involved in The Power of 10, please visit www.powerof10initiative.com.

About Capital One
At Capital One we're on a mission for our customers – bringing them great products, rewards, service, and access to unique and unforgettable experiences they are passionate about. Capital One is a diversified bank that offers products and services to individuals, small businesses and commercial clients. We use technology, innovation and interaction to provide consumers with products and services to meet their needs. Learn more at capitalone.com

SOURCE The Power of 10

Related Links

https://www.powerof10initiative.com