Reese's FIRA Fundraiser 2026

My friends Hannah (Maxine’s), Elliot (Atlas), Chrissy (Mockingbird Kitchen) and I started FIRA during COVID closures to help hospitality staff keep their rent paid and keep their lights on. Did you know we started crowdfunding peoples rent within seven days of being forced to lay off our staff?! Since then, we’ve built a stronger network among local restaurants/bars and the people who work on them - offering free workforce development training in partnership with FPL, opportunities to expand wine knowledge (thanks Hotvine), harm reduction training, conversations centered on food recovery / food insecurity efforts, workforce meetups, and paid opportunities for hospitality workers that might need a bit of help bridging the gap when schedules or business fluctuations threaten their financial livelihood. Most importantly, we’ve kept the HERO fund alive all these years, providing essential relief to local workers who are affected by the current housing crisis. We disbursed $43,208.80 in 2020, $44,904.69 in 2025, and over $150,000 to date. None of this would be possible without the support of our local community.

I’m sharing all of this with you in case you don’t know this part of my journey yet. I’m really proud of how far we’ve come, and this is one of the most important things I invest my time, energy, and money into on a daily basis.

So friends and followers, can I ask you to give us a follow at instagram.com/fayettevilleira and donate/share when you can?

Thank you for letting me unabashedly shine light on my favorite project to date. Big love to you always.

🐛 -Reese