Black Restaurant Week, an organization dedicated to highlighting African American, African and Caribbean cuisine by organizing year-wide micro-events throughout the United States, has announced that they have launched a new initiative to help restaurants that are particularly hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a press release announcement, it was revealed that the newly-launched No Crumb Left Behind campaign will assist Black-owned culinary businesses with complementary marketing support to boost awareness in their respective regions.

“The No Crumb Left Behind campaign is to ensure that we are helping as many culinary businesses stay afloat as the world recovers from the pandemic,” stated Derek Robinson, Black Restaurant Week Marketing Director, in the press release announcement. “We are adding more activations and working with additional partners to present programming to serve our full audience of restaurants, bakeries, caterers, chefs, and food trucks.”

While many restaurants have been hard-hit by the pandemic, Black Restaurant Week says that Black-owned restaurants have been the hardest hit. Around 41% of Black-owned businesses have shuttered since February 2020 compared to 17% of white-owned businesses.

Corporate sponsors of the No Crumb Left Behind initiative include Pepsi, Grubhub, Maker’s Mark, Stella Artois, and Bacardi. The initiative will partner with Black-owned restaurants, chefs, caterers, and food trucks to host a selection of culinary experiences aimed to expand awareness and increase support for Black culinary professionals.