Outlanders General Manager Nichole Klingler and owner Anne Klingler are pictured in their Marquette restaurant. The mother-daughter duo recently joined a fundraising network through iloverestaurants.org to help local restaurants replenish funds lost due to COVID-19. (Photo courtesy of Outlanders)

MARQUETTE — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s executive order 2020-2021 led to many small businesses closing their doors for the foreseeable future and for some, the effects of a temporary closure will lead to a permanent one.

A Marquette restaurant has joined a fundraising network aimed at helping members of the restaurant industry make it through these challenging times.

Outlanders restaurant was awarded “Essential Independent Restaurant” in Marquette by I Love Restaurants, a fundraising network created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic which helps America’s 15,600,000 restaurant workers replace lost income.

“We were looking around for ways to survive this current situation,” said Outlanders Owner Anne Klingler.

The award identifies an independent restaurant in each community that is most essential to survive and rebuild coming out of the crisis, the ILR website states. ILR will then lead a fundraising effort on behalf of that restaurant and its employees.

With this award, Outlanders will help other area restaurants and their employees fundraise.

Anyone can purchase merchandise from the ILR website which includes tank tops, tees, hats, sweaters, aprons, mugs, phone cases and more. With each product sold, up to $11 of the profits will be donated back to the restaurant or individual worker whose store you choose to shop from and another $1.50 will go toward helping others in the industry. To shop the Outlanders store visit https://www.iloverestaurants.org/?ref=A8-XfPCITLgr.

“With the award they are helping us fundraise to help our community,” Anne Klingler said. “The fundraising effort is bigger than just Marquette, that’s why we’re on board with it and think it’s so great because anyone who works in the restaurant industry whether its a dishwasher waitress, or the restaurant itself can sign up for this website and generate income to replace what we’re losing and we are losing a lot right now.”

Anne and her daughter Nichole Klingler, who is the general manager at Outlanders ,thought this fundraiser was a great way to get the whole community involved while helping the entire food service community.

“The whole country is hurting right now because of this,

and it draws some attention to the restaurant industry and gives people the opportunity to help out the workers and the business owners, just everybody,” Nichole Klingler said. “I think it’s really a cool idea, the whole network it creates.”

Restaurants in states such as Ohio, Illinois and more have joined in on the fundraising effort and Anne Klingler expects the effort to snowball in the coming weeks, she said.

The Klinglers agreed they are honored to have been the recipients of the award and want to give back locally with this effort, a principle their business was founded on.

Outlanders first opened in south Marquette in February of 2013 as a takeout and catering business. In 2017, they acquired their current building at 1014 W. Washington St. and opened their doors for dine in service.

The restaurant participates in local school fundraisers, donates gift cards and most importantly hopes to bring families together over food made from scratch, Nichole Klingler said.

“Our main goal has always been to try and support overscheduled families that struggle to sit down together for a meal,” she said.

The food is near fast food prices, but better for you, Anne Klingler added, which is why their tagline is “Eat better, spend less.”

To get involved, shop from the Outlanders store or create your own store from their referral link https://i-love-restaurants.goaffpro.com/create-account?ref=A8-XfPCITLgr to help build the network. For more information visit iloverestaurants.org.

“I’m really excited about this opportunity for the whole area to come together and generate some excitement,” Nichole Klingler said. “Ultimately, I think we’re going to be in this for at least the foreseeable future. We want all the business to thrive. Independent restaurants are what make each community unique. This is an opportunity to help them survive, (to help) everybody survive.”

Outlanders is currently offering curbside and delivery options. To view the menu or place an order, visit outlanderstogo.com.