The Board and Brew is one of 40 restaurants in Prince George鈥檚 County that received a 鈥渄ash鈥� of funds from food delivery app DoorDash 鈥� part of the company鈥檚 effort to support and help restaurants succeed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The expansion of DoorDash’s — which the company says is aimed at empowering local communities — added $10 million to their newly-named Main Street Strong COVID-19 relief grant program.
The Board and Brew co-owner and operator Michael Chmar remembers how things were before March of 2020.
鈥淭hey were phenomenal before the pandemic hit. We were growing at a very good rate. It was lovely. We had just opened our second location, as a matter of fact.鈥�
Chmar chuckled as he told 海角精品黑料 the date they opened their Philadelphia location — Feb. 5, 2020.
Of course, one month later, the country would feel like a totally different place with mask mandates and shutdowns of just about any place where people could gather from schools, churches, concert venues, shops and more.
When ,聽it was only the College Park location 鈥� for carryout and delivery.
But they also launched their own online platform, Chmar said, 鈥渨hich obviously took a little bit of time to develop a following to it 鈥� to drive people there. So that has helped. And we offer delivery through DoorDash, through our point of sale system, which also helps.鈥�
They found out about the grant program because they are a DoorDash user.
鈥淪o I applied, figuring it can鈥檛 hurt,鈥� Chmar said.
They鈥檝e already received and spent the funds for labor and food costs, but Chmar says it was needed to relieve some financial strain.
鈥淓very penny helps. You know it鈥檚 remarkable how the margins in a restaurant, from a profit standpoint, are incredibly thin. So, when you start looking at every penny, $5,000 is big.鈥�
The recipients were listed in the blog for a company called Hello Alice 鈥� which helps other businesses start and grow. Hello Alice administers the grants.
Prince George鈥檚 County recipients, and other recipients across the country.
