HYANNIS – Grants ranging from $500 to $2,000 were recently distributed to 47 Cape Cod businesses through the Cape Cod Resilience Fund.
Grants totaled nearly $50,000.
Funds were given out to aid local businesses during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. One-hundred-eight applicants were reviewed by an independent committee.
While she said that she wasn’t sure what to expect when the fund was launched, CEO of Love Live Local Amanda Converse said it was heartwarming to see many community members step up to help, including other local business owners.
“We said from the beginning, ‘We’re in this together,’ and that really felt like we were when we saw that,” Converse said.
The organizers of the fund are now aiming for a goal of raising $100,000 by Labor Day. At that same time, a second round of grant distribution is slated to occur.
Converse said that the second round of grants will include businesses that did not receive funding in the first round, as the need for aid will not disappear.
“I don’t want people to think that since businesses are now opening up or can do some business, that everything’s fine, because it’s not,” she explained.
The public’s reaction has been overwhelmingly positive, Converse added, and plans are already being made to continue fundraising through the next number of months. The Cape Cod Baseball League, for example, will begin selling face masks and donating proceeds to the fund.
For more information, visit the Cape Cod Resilience Fund’s website by clicking here.
About Brendan Fitzpatrick
