(above) Westfield United Fund Board President, Jon Walker and Executive Director Deirdre M. Gelinne. To contribute to the fund visit westfieldunitedfund.org.
“We Love Local” Campaign Supports Local Businesses
Submitted by Deirdre M. Gelinne
The Westfield United Fund, in partnership with the Town of Westfield, kicked off the We Love Local campaign in support of Westfield’s independently owned retail businesses on March 20th, launching it with a mini-concert by John Rzeznik, the lead singer of the Goo Goo Dolls, playing and singing from his front porch in Westfield. The goal of the campaign is to raise funds from local residents to distribute to independent retail businesses in Westfield that are being severely impacted by the Covid-19 crisis.
We Love Local got off to a quick start by collecting over $40,000 in the first two days, which earned the campaign an additional $15,000 in matching funds from the Westfield United Fund. Once the campaign crossed the $50,000 mark, the Westfield Foundation agreed to match the next $30,000 in donations. As of April 21st, the campaign had raised more than $220,000 in generous donations from 750 local residents and associations, including the Chinese American Association, the Westfield Baseball League, the Westfield Basketball Association and the Westfield Service League.
Some local businesses have also gotten into the act, donating a portion of their sales, including the Dream Factory, which is putting up colorful balloon installations all over town, and J.McLaughlin. Some high school students organized a Fortnite competition, which raised almost $1,000 and was so popular that another one has been planned to handle the demand. Joe Mindak, a Westfield resident and Rotary member, has been selling pallet signs with patriotic designs and messages like “Westfield Strong” which have racked up sales of $7,000 so far.
The We Love Local campaign started accepting applications for funds from local retail businesses on March 25th and more than 170 businesses have applied for grants to date. The application can be found on the Westfield United Fund website, westfieldunitedfund.org. A committee composed of representatives from the Westfield United Fund, the Westfield Foundation and the Town of Westfield is processing applications as quickly as possible. The first round of 85 checks went out on April 1st, ranging from $500 to $2,250, based on the number of paid employee hours that each business has in a typical work week. Another 70 checks have been paid out in April, for a total of $197,000. The campaign will continue to accept applications for grants through April 30. We Love Local encourages all Westfield residents to consider a donation to the fund, and to continue to patronize the local businesses that are still able to operate on a limited basis. By working together we can ensure that downtown Westfield will emerge from this crisis as strong as ever.
