Nonprofit organization provides grant relief to Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez Valley restaurants

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. -- Local restaurants in Santa Barbara and Santa Ynez Valley will be eligible for a COVID-19 relief grant from the Elaine F. Stepanek Foundation.

Small businesses that apply can get up to $10,000.

“Our local restaurants are a vibrant and important part of our community,” said Dan Gainey, President of the Elaine F. Stepanek Foundation. “With this fund, we hope to give some of our small, independently owned restaurants which have been severely impacted by COVID-19 some financial assistance to support their basic needs in the short term when there are gaps in federal, state and local funding related to pandemic relief. We strongly believe that providing support to these businesses will benefit the entire community.”

The new grant program is to help provide relief for small, independently-owned, dine-in restaurants during the pandemic.

The Elaine F. Stepanek Foundation Restaurant Fund is a committee advised fund at the Santa Barbara Foundation, which is working to provide additional relief to the whole community.

The grant program application period opens on Thursday, February 4, and will close on Monday, February 22.

If you are a restaurant that would like to apply, click here.