Food + Wine Festival funds relief grants for hospitality workers

The Food + Wine Festival is a four-day fundraising event for the Colorado Restaurant Foundation. The Shake + Brake Showdown is a competition for best food truck and best cocktail. The Grand Tasting features small plates from 50 Denver-area chefs, as well as wine and spirits. The money raised from these events is used in part to fund important grants for workers in the hospitality industry.

Azuolas Maciokas has worked at City, o' City restaurant for four years. As a kitchen manager he is right in the middle of the rush.

"I like it. I like it a lot," Maciokas  said.

While he loves the work, he didn't make enough money to get the help he needed.  

"I was always avoiding therapy…for years," he explained.

Then he applied for an Angel Relief Fund grant through the Colorado Restaurant Association. He was granted $1,000, which paid for 11 therapy sessions.

"I didn't want to risk my own money, and be worried about rent or be behind on the rent or bills or anything," Maciokas  said.

The Angel Relief Fund is a safety net for hospitality workers, and since COVID, mental health grants have been an important resource.

"It gives us a sense of really being seen and being supported in a way that we wouldn't otherwise have the opportunity for," said Lauren Roberts, CEO of City o' City.

The grant helped Maciokas  and allowed him to stay at City o' City and continue to grow his career.

"That was a really good first step to taking care of myself, for sure," Maciokas  told CBS News Colorado.

LINK: Denver Food + Wine Festival

The Denver Food + Wine Festival wraps up Saturday, September 9, 2023 with the Grand Tasting from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Tivoli Quad on the Auraria Campus.