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Raise a Glass Joe Phillips , Pints & Union provide support to service industry workers BY MANDY WOLF DETWILER | PHOTOS BY JD DOTSON
B y now we all know the restaurant and bar industry has taken a direct hit during the COVID-19 pandemic . While some stood still , others stood up .
Joe Phillips was one of them .
For months , the owner of downtown New Albany-based Pints & Union worked tirelessly to help aid displaced service workers – and , soon , anyone in need – directly impacted by the pandemic .
In March 2020 , Phillips says he lost 75 to 80 percent of sales immediately after the shutdown , as Pints & Union did not have a large carryout business . He had to lay off his 13 employees and decided to donate the food items the gastropub used to displaced restaurant workers . That quickly moved to anyone who needed aid during the pandemic .
“ It was pretty much overnight –– almost complete loss ,” says Phillips . “ I had to lay everybody off and say if you want to volunteer , you can volunteer but obviously we have no income . We have no funds . I ’ m going to give away everything I ’ ve got .”
Pints & Union , which opened in 2018 , was one of nearly a dozen restaurants selected from across the country by the LEE Initiative to receive grant money to provide groceries and other goods to restaurant workers who were laid off or saw a severe reduction in hours as the nation grappled with the effects of the COVID-19 shutdown .
The LEE Initiative , launched by Louisville chef
Edward Lee and Lindsey Ofcacek , was created to foster diversity and equity in the restaurant industry . The Initiative , in conjunction with Maker ’ s Mark , worked to provide goods and services to service workers during the pandemic and provided Pints & Union a $ 10,000 grant in April 2020 to help provide much-needed support to the local community .
“ It was important to make sure that restaurant workers were seen as essential ,” Lee says . “ So many were furloughed and unemployment had not yet kicked in , and it was a real crisis with a lot of unknowns during the first month of lockdown . We wanted to make sure that we helped our industry peers .”
Phillips started making food every day . He had previously worked with the LEE Initiative to
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