The Bainbridge Island Downtown Association announced Tuesday it is setting up a relief fund for the employees and families of The 122 Bar and Restaurant.

The popular nightspot in downtown Winslow was destroyed in an early morning fire on Monday, July 9.

“Our hearts go out to the friends, families and employees of The 122,” said Andrea Mackin, director of the Bainbridge Island Downtown Association.

“Any time a community experiences the loss of a locally owned business that provides jobs for 20 employees and is as much a part of the local community as The 122 has become, the effects reach into all of our own neighborhoods,” she said.

The relief fund will be established at the downtown Winslow branch of Columbia Bank and remain in place through the end of August.

The fund will be overseen by the downtown association, with funds being distributed to the employees and their families in early September.

Mackin said the downtown association began receiving calls mid-day Monday from members of the downtown business community asking how they could help support the staff and owners Kim Raymond and Chris Ortiz in the aftermath of the fire. The relief fund will be intended to help provide assistance for displaced workers as they pursue new employment opportunities to replace their jobs lost by the closure of the restaurant and bar.

The relief fund will be in place by the end of this week. Donors wishing to make contributions may make donations at both Columbia Bank Bainbridge Island branches located at downtown at 249 Winslow Way E. or the bank’s High School Road branch across from the Safeway in the Bainbridge Village shopping center.  Checks should be made out to: Bainbridge Island Downtown Association/for the benefit of The 122 Relief Fund.

For more information on The 122 Relief Fund, contact the Bainbridge Island Downtown Association at 206-842-2982, or visit www.bainbridgedowntown.org.