“Dear PoPville,
Many years before 2020, my small DC retail business happily forced the requests of parents of local school children to make donations to school / PTO auctions and fundraisers. The support of our neighbors has contributed to the development of our business.
Recently, I received a request for a donation from the parent of a well-resourced Capitol Hill public school, and I want to let readers know that such requests are probably very difficult to accommodate right now for companies that have managed to cling to this. year.
It hurts me to say that I can’t help myself, but it’s also very uncomfortable for me to explain why.
We had to take a PPP loan from the government to be able to hire our employees last summer and we are still not sure that it will be forgiven. We were fortunate to obtain an economic loan in the event of a disaster from the SBA, which we hope will allow us to withstand the ongoing storm, a 30-year debt commitment is in personal ownership even if the business fails. Now we are praying for another round of PPPs to prevent further layoffs.
I am grateful for the financial support my business has received over the last year, but I am obliged to use it responsibly. Parents, please be aware that if raising money for your school is such a great “business development opportunity” that you should not ask, I would join in to give you my money. I used to make donations because I had the means and it’s a nice thing to do.
I look forward to giving back to the community as soon as we can, but it’s still not a good time for many small businesses in DC.
Sincerely,
One of the local retail store owners “