Small businesses are struggling to keep their doors open because of the pandemic. The lockdown started in late March last year, and many business owners had to close their shops. The killing of George Floyd brought forth protests against racial injustices in the United States. These protests sometimes became violent and led to stores being looted. These looters would occasionally set the store on fire. This would leave the business owners with thousands of dollars in repairs.  The sad thing is that some store owners who were struggling through the lockdown then got their store burned down.

In January, many states are experiencing an increasing number of cases of Covid-19 and might start lockdowns again.

The unemployment rate in America is at an all-time high. The number of unemployed people is over 12.6 million people, and some of these people worked in small businesses. It’s very hard for the owner to keep their employees because of Covid-19. Small businesses are trying to keep their workers, but they don’t have enough money to pay them.  That’s what is happening to many owners–the decision to pay their bills or pay their workers.

The president of the United States made a stimulus bill to help businesses by giving them more money. The money for some businesses was not enough because their sales might have dropped 90%, or even lower. They have been losing thousands of dollars and barely making any money back.

We should help small business owners because they have put everything into their business and don’t want to lose it.  There have been a lot of struggles for small businesses, and we should help them stay open.

There are some easy ways you can support your favorite small business. The simplest way is to buy their products because they need customers.

Another way you can help is to make a GoFundMe page, which is like a charity site. You can post on social media that you are raising money to keep a small business open, and people can donate. Most small business owners really need help, and by helping them out, you can make a new friend.

The picture on the left is a small business that had been open for 23 years. It closed because it was looted and set on fire. The damage repair cost was too high for the owner. This happened on June 1, 2020, and the police and fire departments arrived and secured the area. The next day, I went to see the damage, and people from the neighborhood were helping shop owners clean up. Everyone’s faces looked shocked because this never happened before. They could not believe all the damage the fire did to the stores and the neighbors comforted the store owners.

Small businesses are a major part of America’s economy. We should try our best to help them out. By shopping at their stores or ordering food from local restaurants, this show of support helps them get through this hard year.