Popular Pasadena Restaurant Asking For Help Via GoFundme

Teddy Bedjakian, owner of Edwin Mills by Equator in Old Pasadena, has started a Gofundme campaign to keep his business going.

“I never assumed I would see myself asking for people’s help but this Covid 19 has affected me dearly,” Bedjakian posted about his campaign. “The State of California has abandoned the small business owner and the PPP and the SBA loans have put me in further debt.”

Edwin Mills by Equator, formerly known as Equator, has been in operation since 1996.

Earlier this month, just before the state’s order forcing restaurants to shut down all operations except for takeout and delivery went into effect, Bedjakian opted to take care of his workers and gave all the money he had made on sales to his staff so they could have money for Christmas.

The stay-at-home order was supposed to last for three weeks but on Tuesday was extended indefinitely.

That was three months ago and now Bedjakian is hoping to raise $80,000 to pay his employees in advance and cover his bills until March.

Restaurants have been hit particularly hard by the health orders enacted to combat the virus.

A survey released in September by the National Restaurant Association revealed that during the six months after the first shutdown, one in six restaurants — or a total of 100,000 establishments nationwide — closed either permanently or long-term.

In a move to provide some assistance to restaurant owners, the city began allowing outdoor dining provided restaurants followed COVID restrictions.

But once the second surge hit, L.A. County shut down all dining except for pickup and delivery. Pasadena was able to allow outdoor dining to continue via a directive from its own health department.

Local restaurants saw a boom during that brief time as they were the only restaurants allowed to legally operate in L.A. County.

However, despite being allowed to open for outdoor dining, the city’s restaurants were again forced to shut down due to the state order.

To donate to the Edwin Mills by Equator campaign visit:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/edwin-mills-fights-for-staff-and-rent?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cf%20share-flow-1&fbclid=IwAR1S-95crioeqo5grlH09tdTrxPJE-X7ViqzOjhGuSzgSTEITJhpfgoH0ZA