When Orange County’s restaurants closed due to COVID-19, thousands of food service employees were left without paychecks. Longtime OC resident Dave Pyle wanted to take care of the people who have taken care of him and his family over the years. He did so to the tune of nearly half a million dollars, alongside his wife Chanel and his children Henry, Mary Lynn, Annie and Willis.
Dave Pyle is CEO of American Career College and Executive Chairman of the Board for West Coast University, which has offices at UCI Research Park and campuses in Los Angeles, Orange, and San Bernardino counties, as well as cities like Miami and Dallas.
Through their philanthropy The OneRoot Foundation, the Pyle family distributed $1,000 Visa gift cards to 450 employees of Plums Cafe in Costa Mesa, Sapori Ristorante in Newport Beach, CdM Restaurant in Corona del Mar and Avila’s El Ranchito Mexican Restaurant on Balboa Peninsula.
“We’re in incredibly, unprecedented times and challenging times for a lot of folks, especially those people that are in the retail and restaurants. And so we just wanted to support those establishments that we’ve enjoyed,” said Henry Pyle.
“Those people have fed us for our whole lives and welcomed us at every moment of our lives and they are just long-running establishments in our community and we don’t want to see those away,” adds Annie Pyle.
The Pyles still aren’t done. They plan to distribute more to local businesses that have had an impact on them including to help employees of BYLT Clothing, the Hydrant Pet Hotel, and MoonGoat Coffee Roasters in Costa Mesa.
Read the full story on the Pyle family’s community support.
