'Kind of tremendous:' Fundraiser for Milwaukee area restaurants raises more than $25K

MILWAUKEE -- A Milwaukee attorney has raised more than $25,000 in an online fundraiser to help six local restaurants through the "Safer at Home" initiative.

The coronavirus pandemic has led to trying times for small businesses like Interval in Milwaukee.

Ryan Hoban

"We chose to layoff all our employees and our staff quickly," said Interval owner Ryan Hoban. "I kind of saw the writing on the walls. It was like, let's just get them in unemployment now and then try to ride this out and then bring them all back, and get the family back together."

Lifelong Milwaukeean, attorney C.J. Krawczyk and his wife, Julie, wanted to help.

C.J. Krawczyk and his wife, Julie

"We're pretty deeply embedded in the restaurant community," Krawczyk said. "There are a lot of friends of ours and, and we started to hear firsthand of the struggles they were having."

So, Krawczyk started a fundraiser last week called "Save Our Spots."

"I was turning 46, so we decided to put in $4,600 dollars, and I just hoped we would match it," said Krawczyk. "If we could raise nine or 10 grand and get that money out to restaurants like right now, I thought we would have done some good."

Interval

The effort has now raised more than $25,000 for five of their favorite restaurants in Milwaukee and one in Wauwatosa. Until the money is verified and released by GoFundMe, the couple decided to donate cash from their own pockets -- making a difference to local restaurants in a time of need.

"Gonna definitely help us pay some bills, help us get back to normalcy as quickly as we can," Hoban said. "The community support, like what C.J.'s doing for us has just been kind of tremendous."

The fundraiser is still going to help pay employees and bills. If you'd like to donate, CLICK HERE.