SALT LAKE CITY — It's been one week since at least five beloved establishments were ruined by the Main Street fire on August 11th in Downtown Salt Lake City. That blaze also left those restaurant employees without a place to go to work the next day.
"Losing your job in that nature is unsettling,” said Jared Mendenhall, a spokesperson for the Utah Department of Workforce Services.
FOX 13 News Utah spoke with one of the managers at The Melting Pot about how they've come up with a couple of ways to step up and hope to help their community. “Those bars definitely have made an impact on a lot of people’s lives,” said Brevan Mondragon, a manager at The Melting Pot.
The Melting Pot is just across the street from the businesses that were damaged. "We’re trying to support the community as much as we can,” said Mondragon.
Mondragon explained that after last week’s devastation, many people within his industry want to hire those who suddenly lost their jobs because of this fire. "We want to offer interviews and jobs to anybody who was working over at the four bars and restaurants across the street,” said Mondragon.
The Melting Pot is looking for a variety of positions: servers, back of house, and bar staff.
Utah Department of Workforce Services told FOX 13 News, anyone who lost their job from the fire should reach out to them if they haven’t already. "Come to workforce services to get signed up for that unemployment benefit,” said Mendenhall
They offer resources from resume workups, interview practice, and their next virtual job fair is on September 11th. "We show up for each other and we take care of each other, so it’s good to see that people are reaching out and making sure that everyone is taking care of that was affected by these fires,” said Mendenhall.
The Melting Pot is also donating part of its proceeds to the Main Street Fire Employee Assistance Fund now through October. “I think there’s a really strong sense of community within the restaurant industry,” said Mondragon.
