With a fund whose dollars come exclusively from donations made by generous neighbors and business supporters, Mt. Airy CDC’s COVID-19 Business Relief Fund is officially ready for Round 3. The Mt. Airy Business Improvement District (BID) has contributed a $5,000 matching grant to kickstart the third round.
To date, Mt. Airy CDC has been able to disburse over $20,000 in emergency funding through two rounds. Round One, distributed in early April, saw funding go to eight businesses. Round Two, distributed last week, was awarded to 15 local businesses:
- Action Karate Mt Airy
- Airy Kitchens
- ARTrageous Kids Childcare
- Chestnut Hill Cleaning Company
- Eric Prine Philadelphia Real Estate
- Fergie’s Instructional Training FIT LLC
- Green District Media
- Hearts That Matter Most Adult Day Services
- I Spy, You Buy – Philly’s Thrift
- John Barone Photography
- Kadillac Tattoo
- Kira Luxon Photography
- Mt. Airy Learning Tree
- The Nesting House
- Philadelphia Community Acupuncture
Stephanie Bruneau, Executive Director of Mt. Airy Learning Tree, is thrilled to see her community step up in a time of crisis. “In this moment of physical distancing, MALT’s mission to connect neighbors feels more important than ever,” she said. “We will be using the relief funds to help us cover the cost of our mortgage, allowing us to focus our resources on retaining staff and moving our spring programming online. The generosity of the community is much appreciated, and will help us keep our doors open after this global health crisis lifts.”
Moving into Round Three, Mt. Airy CDC is grateful to the Mt. Airy BID to help get things going.
“The BID was searching for the best way to help our community and hardest-hit local businesses during this health crisis,” said Mt. Airy BID Chair Ken Weinstein. “Mt. Airy’s small businesses are the backbone of our commercial corridor, and they are on life support right now.”
Mt. Airy CDC Executive Director Brad Copeland agreed. “We understood that the biggest crisis facing local businesses was an interruption in cashflow, and this fund was the most immediate impact we could make,” he said. “It’s also been a great indicator of just how united in community spirit the people of Mt. Airy are.”
Lisa Flynn of Kadillac Tattoo draws on that spirit as well. “This grant not only helps us financially, but it lets us know again and again how great Mt. Airy is,” she said. “We love being part of this amazing community — thank you so much!”
Moving into Round Three, all contributions will be matched by the Mt. Airy BID until $10,000 is raised.
To contribute to the fund, please visit www.mtairycdc.org/covid19relief.
If you are a Mt. Airy business owner and wish to apply to the fund, please visit https://mtairycdc.org/mtairyrelief
