Fort Bend County Auditor Ed Sturdivant called the program “highly successful” during a Sept. 13 Commissioners Court meeting.
During the meeting, Jerome Love—founder and president of Texas Black Expo, which administered the program—presented the impacts of the program to the court.
Love said 28 restaurants participated in the program, which launched in October 2020. In sum, these restaurants were able to hire nearly 100 staff.
Participating restaurants included Micheaux's, Ninfa's, Off the Vine, Red’s Grill and others.
The main objectives of the program were twofold: to provide meals to Fort Bend County residents faced with food insecurity due to COVID‐19 pandemic, and to sustain local Fort Bend County restaurants by providing resources necessary to maintain their patronage, retain their employees and keep their doors open, Love said.
“When you support a restaurant, there is a whole economic ecosystem that is supported as a result of the program,” Love said.
That ecosystem includes food supply providers, beverage companies, utilities companies, landlords and property managers as well as merchant service and point of sale providers, according to We All Eat program documents.
Fort Bend County utilized $11 million in funding through the Fort Bend County CARES Act and American Recovery Rescue Act, Sturdivant said.
“All the wonderful things the program did with Jerome's team's management, it would not have been possible without the $11 million this court allocated,” he said.
Both Precinct 2 Commissioner Grady Prestage and County Judge KP George commended Love for a well-managed and necessary program, which aided both residents and businesses with the greatest need in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“At least seven or eight restaurant owners I interacted with, all of them told me if it was not for this program, they would not be in business,” George said. “I agree with what [Prestage] said, that it made a big impact in our community.”
