The hospitality industry has been among the hardest hit by the pandemic. Now a new initiative is aiming to help those who’ve experienced employment setbacks due to COVID-19. Call it a photo finish to a brutal year.

The food service industry support hub Breaking Bread, in collaboration with restaurateur Brad Roark (Nook, Oddfish) has launched a photography fundraiser called “Beyond the Plexi” that will raise funds to directly help hospitality works whose careers have been affected by COVID-19.

Four local photographers (Wade Comer (@wadecomerphoto), Miranda Hudson (@hudsonny), William Luk (@mayowill) and Luis Valdizon (@whentheyfindus)) donated their time and skill to shoot images behind the scenes at 33 local restaurants.

The limited-edition prints from those shoots are available for purchase at $200 apiece, with funds raised going to two scholarships, one via the BC Hospitality Foundation and the other through the Chinese Restaurant Awards scholarship at Vancouver Community College. The Chinese Restaurant Awards will also contribute $10 for every print sold from the collection of photos taken at Chinese and Taiwanese restaurants.

These beautiful images capture some of our favourite restaurants at this historic moment in time, and help those who need it most, too.

Prints are available to purchase until May 31 at breakingbreadnow.com/behind-the-plexi.