Patty Redden discusses introducing her father’s dry cleaning business to Dave Portnoy’s fundraising effort with the 30-day nonprofit fund for small businesses affected by COVID-19.
A small business owner in Arizona, Kevin Redden, said on Sunday that “the world was taken from my shoulders” after receiving financial support from “The Barstool Fund” at Christmas.
Appearing on “Fox & Friends Weekend” with his daughter Patty on Sunday, the owner of Pony Express Cleaners in Scottsdale said he was at the store on Christmas morning “going through schedules and looking for who I could cut a little here and there” When he received the news.
“It’s one thing when you have your own life to worry about, but when you carry 10 people and their families on your back, it gets heavy,” said Redden.
He added that during the first three to four months the business of the coronavirus pandemic fell by about 90% and is currently below 75%.
Redden noted that while his business “struggled” during the pandemic, it has kept all of its employees’ hours unchanged until now because it had some financial resources, which, he said, have now run out.
In a video posted on social media, Redden is thrilled inside his store when his daughters tell him that he has been selected to receive financial assistance from The Barstool Fund.
Dave Portnoy, founder of the media company Barstool Sports, launched the fundraising effort with the nonprofit 30 Day Fund for small businesses impacted by COVID-19, called “The Barstool Fund” earlier this month, and contributed with $ 500,000 of his own money for the effort.
On Sunday morning, “The Barstool Fund” raised more than $ 7.3 million from more than 66,000 supporters for 25 small businesses struggling during the pandemic.
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Portnoy presented the fund in a December 17 tweet, saying that companies could send stories to [email protected] to be considered for the fund.
Portnoy has shared video submissions from small business owners asking to be part of the fundraising effort on social media.
He also shared videos of business owners’ reactions to the news that they were chosen to participate in The Barstool Fund, with several, including Redden, appearing to be thrilled after hearing the news, often directly from Portnoy.
In the case of Redden, his daughters broke the news after hearing from Portnoy.
Redden’s daughter, Patty, told Fox & Friends Weekend that she signed up to Barstool to get relief from her sister because “we are both Barstool fans and that’s why we follow them on social media [Portnoy’s] campaign came up and I saw it and thought, ‘Let’s take a chance. We have nothing to lose. We are already in the last stage, so maybe we can get some help this way. ‘”
She said she was “in shock” when she heard from Portnoy.
“I think we kind of lost our minds that this was really happening,” she said.
She added that she realized that the chances of her family receiving help from the Portnoy fund were small, since “we are one among thousands and thousands of companies that are in the same boat”.
She went on to say that “we did everything we could throughout the pandemic to try to continue” and that “we deserve” to receive relief.
“My dad works to the bone,” said Patty Redden. “He was here on Christmas Day. Like, we’re closed and he’s here for Christmas trying to figure out what he can do, but I know we’re not the only ones. ”
She said she is “extremely grateful”.
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Barstool continues to accept applications from small businesses to participate in The Barstool Fund and applications can be sent to [email protected].
“The world was taken off my shoulders in a way that you wouldn’t believe it,” said Redden on Sunday. “Anyone responsible for other people’s lives knows what that feeling is.”
He added that this is why he expects “everyone out there to get in touch with Barstool and let them help everyone who can.”
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Audrey Conklin of FOX Business contributed to this report.