To Our Loyal Pie Patrons
To Our Loyal Pie LOVERS
We love our guests, our team and our community and we are dedicated to serving all through the COVID-19 crisis. We are doing everything in our capabilities to ensure everyone around us stays healthy and safe. Please know that we are closely monitoring and staying informed with the most up-to-date information from the CDC, World Health Organization, Wisconsin Department of Health and City of Milwaukee Health Department.
In addition to our team being ServSafe certified professionals and licensed food safety managers, as well as meeting the rigorous daily requirements of the Milwaukee Health Department, we are taking extra measures to work safely and keep our team safe as we continue to offer food to our community. If you have any concerns about food delivery or carry-out safety - this is a great resource of information:
As I am sure you know, the restaurant industry has been decimated by this pandemic. Our business insurance plans are not covering our business losses. The government that has justifiably asked us to close our doors has not stepped up yet to offer us a clear path to survive financially. At this juncture, at PIE Inc alone, over 60 of our team members are furloughed and out of work. We continue our work every day so that we will be able to bring them back to their jobs in the future. We have committed to keeping our health insurance plan and 401k in place through June for all impacted people and we hope to be able to keep them in place until we are fully operational again. We have also created the Pie People Emergency Fund to help offset lost wages. You can support the Fund by purchasing gift cards or giving a Virtual Tip to our furloughed team through our online Store. Meanwhile, PLEASE support all of your favorite restaurants in your favorite towns if you can, in anyway you can - get a delivery order, buy gift cards, donate to Go Fund Me campaigns, send in a check to your favorite mom and pop place that isn’t online - everyone in this industry is working hard to come out of this crisis on the other side (don’t forget about your local yoga studios! and gyms! and shops!) If you’d like to support your neighborhood restaurants more broadly check in with the Independent Restaurant Coalition to learn how much is at stake and how to help and then donate to the James Beard Foundation’s Open for Good campaign.
And while you’re ordering from us, please know the folks on our team currently working are glad to be making food and (safely) creating a little joy for people in these dark days. Taking care of others is what we do for a living and we are absolutely lost when we cannot do it. Our team members that are uncomfortable being at work or have health reasons that makes it safer for them to be at home are not expected to come in and we are working to support them. We are doing our best to keep our little company alive so our full team is able to return to their jobs and we can continue to serve our wonderful community when the coast is all clear. Until then, THANK YOU for the love and support you have shown us! We miss you. We can’t wait to see you again in our dining rooms. Be safe and take care of yourselves and your loves.
Love and Pie,
Valeri Lucks, Founder & Chief Executive Pie Officer and all of the Pie People of Honeypie, Palomino and SmallPie