“Yesterday, a phone call changed my life,” said Prosen. “It made my Christmas Eve very special. I was very surprised, very honored to receive these funds from Barstool.”
In his scholarship application video, Prosen admits his family’s business is struggling.
“I’m sorry. I’m going to be very excited, but this is my home. My employees are not just my employees. My employees are my family,” she said.
She sent the video to the Barstool Fund to get financial help for her struggling restaurant.
“It’s difficult, it’s very difficult. It’s scary. I mean, you know, last Sunday I had a $ 68 sale. Who survives on a $ 68 sale? So, it’s very scary,” said Prosen.
Despite the challenges of the past nine months, she refused to cut the payroll.
She was driving on Thursday when she received a call from Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy, who recently founded Barstool Fund. The fund supports small businesses affected by closures amid the COVID-19 pandemic. So far, it has raised $ 5.9 million from 56,000 donors. Portnoy himself contributed $ 500,000 of his own money to the fund.
“We are receiving thousands of emails,” he said. “The basic requirements we have: your payroll has to be up to date. We don’t want to help only businessmen, we want to help employees.”
Prosen was so impressed by the news that she was getting funding that she had to stop. Portnoy is giving her $ 15,000 a month until her restaurant can open at full capacity.
“She is someone with a long history of success, a loyal customer base,” he said. “Clearly, the restaurant is her life and losing it like that, without your fault, these are the people you want to help.”
“This is huge. And I will be able to sleep better at night for the next nights,” said Prosen.
Barstool Fund was launched in collaboration with the non-profit organization 30 Day Fund. Portnoy had the idea of starting the fund after New York City renewed its ban on indoor dining. The National Restaurant Association believes the sector is in free fall, citing data released in early December that 17% of restaurants, more than 110,000 establishments, have closed permanently or in the long term since the pandemic began. Prosen is one of 14 award-winning business owners so far.
Renowned donors to the fund include the New York Yankees, the twins Winklevoss and Marcus Lemonis from “The Profit” on CNBC. Portnoy also challenged other big names to donate to the fund, including Elon Musk, Tom Brady and Roger Goodell.
Portnoy said that because he was arrested by Tom Brady, he would like to see the quarterback make a donation to his fund. He also challenged Roger Goodell, saying, “If he donates $ 250,000 for this, and the guy earns $ 40 million a year, by the way, if you donate $ 250,000 for this, I will match it with my own money.”
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