Small businesses all over the United States are suffering due to lock downs. Some cities like New York have had bars and restaurants partially or completely locked down for months.
What is Congress doing for them? Next to nothing.
Dave Portnoy of the extremely popular site Barstool Sports has decided to take action. He is raising money for small businesses so they can pay their employees and stay afloat.
FOX Business reports:
Barstool’s Dave Portnoy raises $3.4M for 10 small businesses — and counting
Dave Portnoy, founder of media company Barstool Sports, has raised $3.4 million for 10 small businesses as of Thursday.
Portnoy launched the fundraising effort with the nonprofit 30 Day Fund for small businesses impacted by COVID-19 called “The Barstool Fund” last week and contributed $500,000 of his own money toward the effort.
“It was certainly humbling and a little embarrassing,” Kerry Counard, owner of Abbey Bar in Wisconsin — which Portnoy chose as one of the initial six restaurants to receive funds — told Fox Business. He expressed empathy for the “thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of small businesses” still struggling amid lockdowns.
Counard was driving when he heard the news and had to pull over because it was so overwhelming. Abbey Bar, which has been operating for 45 years, has been turning cash donations from grateful customers into gift cards for frontline workers, such as nurses and teachers, which is part of the reason Counard thinks Barstool chose his restaurant to participate in The Barstool Fund…
Portnoy introduced the fund in a Dec. 17 tweet, saying businesses could submit stories to [email protected] to be considered for the fund.
See Portnoy’s launch of the fund below:
Introducing The Barstool Fund
If you are a small business that needs help staying in business because of covid email us your story to [email protected]. We will try to help as many people as we can. pic.twitter.com/9BS8HeyHaq
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) December 17, 2020
Watch his appearance on FOX Business to talk about their success so far:
I will go on any network any time to raise money for small businesses and the #barstoolfund. We have asked to go on everywhere. Only Fox invited me.
Donate here: https://t.co/2hl9Fcpvpt pic.twitter.com/IaeVl8dwc7
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) December 24, 2020
It’s great that Portnoy is doing this.
Maybe Congress should take a lesson from him.
Cross posted from American Lookout.