A Northern Kentucky nonprofit is launching a new effort to support local restaurants.
On Wednesday, Horizon Community Foundation of Northern Kentucky announced the Chowdown Cares Fund, a charitable initiative that will help Greater Cincinnati restaurant owners as the industry faces challenges like rising operating costs, labor shortages and economic uncertainty. It joins a growing collection of funds stewarded by Horizon Community Foundation meant to strengthen community well-being and improve quality of life in the region.
The nonprofit says the fund will harness the passion and energy in the online Chowdown Cincinnati community, which brings together local diners, food enthusiasts and hospitality advocates, to ease the strain on independent restaurateurs struggling to keep their doors open.
“The Chowdown Cares Fund captures the heart of this region’s food community, neighbors helping the restaurants they know and love continue to thrive,” Nancy Grayson, president and CEO of Horizon Community Foundation, said in a press release. “This is an opportunity for all of us who enjoy Greater Cincinnati’s vibrant food scene to give back and make sure it remains strong.”
In the last year, several Greater Cincinnati food businesses have launched GoFundMes to help keep them afloat. This month, Mansion Hill Tavern in Newport set up a GoFundMe to raise $15,000, saying it had fallen on hard financial times and was not going to be able to make ends meet in November without intervention. Former Erlanger bakery Square Peg created a GoFundMe this summer to help the business stay open after owner Vic Riley was seriously injured in a car crash. And in 2024, former Over-the-Rhine bar The Orbit Room tried to raise $45,000 to help it settle its expenses, maintain and upgrade equipment and revamp its space.
Money raised through the Chowdown Cares Fund will go toward nonprofit partners who can distribute funds to restaurants with the kind of immediate stabilization needs that often necessitate crowdfunding.
To learn more about or donate to the fund, visit horizoncfnky.org.
