NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Marcus Lemonis, best known for his long-running hit show CNBC’s The Profit, wants to challenge Americans to give back to their local restaurants and help those who are food insecure during this holiday season and the continued COVID-19 pandemic. Lemonis is kickstarting the “Plating Change” program through The Lemon-Aid Foundation with a $1M donation and a newly formed partnership with Grubhub.

The “Plating Change” program will work with Grubhub to give back to World Central Kitchen, supporting its Restaurants for the People program, not only helping independent restaurants by purchasing meals and driving direct revenue, but also employees of the business itself and the entire food ecosystem - all while also providing meals for communities in need. A $500,000 donation through Lemonis’ The Lemon-Aid Foundation will jumpstart the program and help World Central Kitchen and Grubhub take immediate action in New York City, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, Miami, and Philadelphia, bringing food to those who need it most. Over the next couple months, Marcus will donate the remaining $500K to additional charitable organizations that fight food insecurity as well as local restaurants affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.  

“When you work tirelessly to try and do good and create bridges, you find that there are always people along the way who want to help in your mission,” said Marcus Lemonis.  “My friends at MLB, NASCAR and NHRA are seeing the tremendous impact that we’re making in the community for both small business restaurant owners and those in need of food aid and want to help make a larger impact in their lives. I’m grateful for their support.” 

MLB, NASCAR and NHRA have each dedicated to being an extension of the “Plating Change” program through their donations and commitment in raising awareness. Their contributions to World Central Kitchen will help the fight to keep small business restaurant owners in business and Americans in need fed. 

As part of the “Plating Change” program, Grubhub is giving consumers the opportunity to get involved and give back. Now through December 31, consumers can take part while ordering in by opting-in to Grubhub’s Donate the Change, rounding up their order total and donating the difference to World Central Kitchen. Grubhub will also be donating an additional $100K to World Central Kitchen through their Sound Bites concert series and for members of the Grubhub+ membership program, Grubhub will also match all eligible Donate the Change donations. Additionally, by going to wck.org/platingchange, people across the country can donate to World Central Kitchen in support of the program, whether it’s a single meal (value of $10) or more. 

The “Plating Change” program falls under the newly launched The Lemon-Aid Foundation where Marcus pledged $50M to champion his charitable mission of supporting and investing in underserved communities and small businesses.  These investments will be in the form of loans and equity investments and will be designed to have measurable charitable impact on the communities and businesses being served by the foundation. The foundation also intends to make grants to other charitable organizations that share the same mission and goals. Lemonis intends to apply the same type of rigor that he applies in his own investments to the impact investing of the foundation.