Crowdfunding campaign seeks to raise money for laid off restaurant employees

A GoFundMe page has been set up to raise money to help employees of the now-shuttered Quaker Steak and Lube get through the holidays.

December 10, 2014; 9:30 AM • by Trevor Dickerson

Approximately 20 employees of a West End wing joint were out of a job following a late weekend closure.

Workers at the Richmond Quaker Steak and Lube franchise at 8000 West Broad Street were given no warning before management closed the doors late Sunday evening.

By early Monday morning, employees were reportedly notified via a mass text message of the franchise’s abrupt closure and instructed that they were no longer employed with the restaurant.

Quaker Steak and Lube manager Michele Riccio told WTVR CBS6, in part:

“Without any warning my staff and I were told we no longer had jobs. We are a close knit work family and my heart breaks for these young people, some of them with small children, who have worked so hard for me and [who] were so dedicated to helping the store succeed,” Michele Riccio wrote on the fundraising website. “To have their jobs taken from them when they count on the generosity this time of year brings is truly saddening.”

Riccio decided to step up to the plate and do what she could to help her former employees out with some much needed money with the holidays quickly approaching. She formed a GoFundMe page seeking to collect $6,000 in donations to be divided evenly among affected employees. A portion of Riccio’s message reads:

To have their jobs taken from them when they count on the generosity this time of year brings is truly saddening. I had about twenty employees and feel my goal (of $6,000) divided amongst them would maybe ease some financial burdens they may be facing this month.

At press time, approximately $1,500 had been raised in support of the laid off workers. To donate to the cause, you can visit the GoFundMe page here.

Photo: Quaker Steak and Lube Richmond

December 10, 2014 9:30 AM · in Near West End News and West End 0