Out of work restaurant employees almost breathed a sigh of relief when the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation announced a plan to help out its industry workers. The foundation created the Restaurant Employee Relief Fund (RERF) which would provide $500 to any restaurant workerwho has been adversely impacted by COVID-19, financially. The application process was set to open April 6 but never did. Almost immediately after opening the application process, extremely high user volume overwhelmed the application platform. National Restaurant Association Educational FoundationRERF applications are closed while the foundation works to resolve its technical issues.