The city of Los Angeles is offering $800 to residents who live below the federal poverty line and work with food, Mayor Eric Garcetti announced Wednesday.

"Employees in our food-service industry have had to make painful sacrifices — and we have to do everything possible to support them through this time of economic upheaval," Garcetti said in a press release.

The one-time payments will be provided to 4,000 people in Los Angeles, the money coming from Garcetti's nonprofit, The Mayor's Fund, which over the summer raised $56 million to provide direct financial assistance to those most affected by the pandemic.

The announcement comes days after Los Angeles County officials banned outdoor dining amid what they called a "terrifying" surge in COVID-19 and the same day that those in Los Angeles City proper were told to stay at home. The nation's most populous county saw a record 7,593 cases on Tuesday.

Statewide, 11% of all Californians are employed in food service, according to the National Restaurant Association.

The Secure Emergency Relief for Vulnerable Employees initiative, or SERVE, is designed to assist food-service workers who made less than $59,000 in 2019, the poverty threshold set by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development.