For those who work in the restaurant industry, the past few years have been more difficult than ever. The light at the end of the tunnel seemingly slips out of reach with labor and ingredient sourcing challenges still plaguing the industry day after day.
With Inlander Restaurant Week sending hungry guests out to local dining locations en masse, it's important for those who make their living by working in the restaurant industry to know that someone has their back during the annual event, but also every single time they clock in. Local nonprofit Big Table, which has care teams in Spokane, the Palouse, Nashville, San Diego and Colorado Springs (coming spring 2023), is there to act as a safety net and trusted lifeline year-round for industry workers.
Throughout the 10-day event, Restaurant Week diners can show their support by making a monetary donation to Big Table via their website, or by giving their server an "unexpected $20 bill" in small printed envelopes (request at big-table.com), a practice started by Big Table to surprise wait staff, bussers and cooks with a financial gift honoring them for all they do.
The practice of Unexpected 20s just begins to scratch the surface of the impact that Big Table has had on local industry workers.
Christopher Copenhaver has worked in various area restaurants for over two decades now, but has been working in the kitchen at The Flying Goat for the last two years.
"I was recently hit with some pretty bad, painful news in a short amount of time," Copenhaver says. "And then my car completely died on me."
Copenhaver depended on this car to get to his job daily. He knew he needed help, so he reached out to Big Table and was connected with a care coordinator named Danny who got Copenhaver's car into a repair shop.
Fellow coworkers caught wind of Copehaver's unfortunate situation and created a group chat where they began pooling funds to buy him a new vehicle.
"They came up a bit short," says Jonathan Sweatt, owner of The Flying Goat. "Adam Shove, our executive chef, came to me and I reached out to Big Table to see if they could help cover the remaining costs."
As the owner of multiple area restaurants including Downriver Grill, Republic Pi and Uprise Brewing, Sweatt has worked with Big Table for several years, first as a restaurant worker and then as a restaurant proprietor. Sweatt says that the nonprofit has provided everything from hotel rooms for unhoused workers to drug rehabilitation program costs, and even supplied a simple pair of shoes to an employee who couldn't afford to buy them on their own.
"Chris is a remarkable human being," Sweatt says. "He enjoys coming to work every day, and he makes sure that everyone has a great time. He's been an incredible asset to our team from the first day that he walked in the door."
Between the help from his "Flying Goat family" and Big Table, Copenhaver was able to get a reliable truck that he now uses to commute to and from work.
Beyond providing the funds for the truck, Big Table also paid for Copenhaver to attend counseling. For people who work in the restaurant industry, access to mental health care is extremely important, Copenhaver says. It was essential to his well-being and his wanting to continue working at the time.
"Knowing that there's an organization like Big Table locally means the world to us who work in the industry," Copenhaver says. "I have too many nice things to say about them and can't thank them enough for what they've done for me."
