Volunteer with FIRA

The Fayetteville Independent Restaurant Alliance was founded in 2020 in response to the COVID crisis and restaurant closures. Today we continue to raise funds to assist local hospitality professionals through the HERO fund and engage with the Fayetteville restaurant community by supporting workforce development programs and providing resources to local restaurants and their workforce. We support independently owned restaurants and all hospitality professionals working for any hospitality business in Fayetteville, Arkansas (whether their employer is an independent restaurant or not!)

Why become a volunteer? Offering time is a great way to help support our local workforce (and our local business community) without a huge strain on your regular schedule! We are able to offer many flexible options to pitch in and help - ranging from “on your own time” projects that you can complete at home, in-person pre-scheduled events, and “ambassador” training (to help us sell memberships and check in with our current business membership base)!

Why do people need help? Workers in our industry are notoriously under-insured and rarely have savings set back in case of emergency. With the local housing crisis and continuous rise in cost of living, illness or unexpected emergencies can quickly result in utilities being cut off or risk of eviction. 

Wait, there’s a housing crisis? Due to vast population growth and a lack of housing units, the cost of housing has continued to rise in Fayetteville. In 2024, the mayor assembled a Housing Crisis Task Force to address the issue - but there are not enough resources to quickly assist the individuals who need help now. You can read more about the housing crisis on the City of Fayetteville website.

How does this affect the local small business community? Outside of the obvious strain this puts on local businesses trying to hire and retain talent, small businesses rely on other small businesses and small business employees to generate revenue! Research from the National Association of State Procurement Officials shows that when we spend our money locally, it can have a multiplier effect. Essentially, every dollar spent at a local business can provide a return of about $1.50 to our local economy. But when that small business workforce is unable to stay local, we lose that multiplier effect.

Thank you for supporting our hospitality community!