Our local businesses need our support now more than ever
“Do you remember all of those local businesses you asked to give a donation for your team, fundraiser, event, organization, or club? They’re calling in the favor. Answer the call.”
Because most of us have been following the rules and living safely – wearing a mask in public, staying six feet apart, washing our hands, keeping within our groups – COVID-19 numbers have not exploded here as they have in some communities around us. However, the pandemic is still ongoing, and until it is not, we need to continue to take care of ourselves and do our part to help our local business stay healthy as well.
Even with the hope a vaccine gives us for brighter days and the arrival of a safer and near-normal life, our local businesses continue to need our help. It is time to return the favor to the small businesses that have always supported this community.
Small, locally-owned businesses are a vital life force for our community. Supporting them is in our best interest, during this crisis more than ever.
Seminole County’s businesses continue to need us – now more than ever. COVID-19 has thrown our world, our local economy, and about every small business into a tailspin. Owners are justifiably worried, from those just getting by to those with a financial cash flow cushion.
Having a short-term operating deficit is one thing — we all experience slow weeks or months, but we can still pay our bills. Fully depleting a business’s reserves is another when there is nothing to pay employees, rent, or suppliers, and potentially causes a small business owner to make painful layoffs or, worst of all, close for good.
The social distancing, limited crowd sizes, and shelter in place periods put into place to combat COVID-19 have been extreme and unsettling, but they are what health professionals say were, and are needed to flatten the curve and stop the spread. This crisis has affected every local business we know and love — including this newspaper.
Not knowing how long this current crisis will continue makes each dollar spent in this community a critical investment to its immediate future.
Local businesses routinely get asked and agree to support every type of organization with donations, whether monetary, in-kind, gift cards, or advertising in programs.
It is time we return the favor and Pay it Forward by making a local purchase today, tomorrow, and next week.
Wear a mask and shop six feet apart smart in person where allowed, order take out and curbside pickups, call or go online and purchase local store gift cards and certificates and go ahead and make purchases today for future needs, gifts and events.
When we care about our neighbors and their businesses and turn that caring into action, the benefits will come back to us in ways we can’t even imagine. Those local businesses which have always been there for us when we were seeking support now need our support more than ever.
Pay it Forward. Shop locally for Valentine’s Day and every day.
Comments and impressions are welcomed and requested at david@donalsonvillenews.com