Cracker Barrel Cares is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization funded by employee donations. The program provides financial assistance to eligible employees facing emergencies or hardships caused by unexpected, unforeseen, or unavoidable events.

Assistance is only available for specific qualifying events, and documentation is required. Employees must meet program requirements and submit required documents to be eligible.

To be eligible, an individual must be employed by Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc.® ("CBOCS") or any affiliated company of CBOCS in a full or part-time capacity and actively working or on an approved leave of absence ("Employee" or "Applicant") when submitting an application and when payment is made.

An employee needs to apply within sixty (60) days of the qualifying event.

An employee may only receive a grant once within any (6) six-month period and can apply for up to $2500 per application, with a lifetime maximum of $5,000.

The Cracker Barrel Cares grant program only provides assistance for specific qualifying events. Situations outside of the following are not eligible.

Qualifying Events:

• Critical health condition (self or employee's spouse, child or parent)

• Natural Disaster (Residential Fire or Federally Declared Widespread)

• Death of an employee or employee's spouse, child or parent

• Intimate partner violence

If your situation does not fall within one of these qualifying events or cannot be supported with the required documentation, it will not be eligible for a grant under this program.

An employee may use the store computer to apply for Cracker Barrel Cares, including the store office computers and the employee is solely responsible for deleting any personal documents that may have been uploaded to or saved on company computers during the application process.

You may want to ask a family member or friend with a computer or smartphone to help you complete the application.

Decisions are made by the Cracker Barrel Cares Grant Committee and will be communicated by email.

Processing times vary depending on the completeness of the application. Program administration understands that every situation is urgent and therefore reviews applications in the order received as quickly as possible. Processing can take up to several weeks if required documentation is missing. Applications that are complete with all of the required documentation can take up to 7 business days to fully process.

Grant funds will be disbursed via PayPal. If you do not have a PayPal account, the award email will include instructions to set up a free PayPal account.

Unfortunately, Cracker Barrel Cares cannot disburse funds through Payroll. The program uses PayPal to send payments, which can be accessed immediately upon transfer.

While we truly wish we could assist with a wide range of needs, the program focuses on specific qualifying events and unfortunately does not cover homelessness or eviction-related situations.

We understand that this is a challenging time. Please consider reaching out to the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) at 1-800-96-HELPS, (1-800-964-3577).

While we truly wish we could assist with a wide range of needs, our program focuses on specific qualifying events and unfortunately does not cover automobile repairs or transportation issues.

We understand that this is a challenging time. Please consider reaching out to the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) at 1-800-96-HELPS, (1-800-964-3577).

To create an account and submit your application, you will need an email address. You can use a free email service like Gmail or Yahoo. Please note that all communication regarding your application will be sent via email, so ensure you have access to the email address you provide to receive important updates.

Cracker Barrel Cares is unable to cover lost wages.