Young Ones Records raises money for nonprofit
Young Ones Record Store in Kutztown organized a fundraising campaign to help their business survive amid the coronavirus pandemic while also helping Friend Inc. feed those in need.
Chris Holt, owner of Young Ones, explained that Quickbooks and GoFundMe have a program called Small Business Initiative, which matches the first $500 raised in a GoFundMe campaign during this coronavirus crisis.
“With this in mind, we set one up and the first $500 that we raise is going to Friend, Inc. through 50 large pizza coupons from Mamma’s,” said Holt.
The primary purpose is to help Young Ones survive while social distancing regulations kept the store closed to customers. The secondary purpose is to help others who are in need, including Mamma’s and clients of Friend, Inc., said Holt.
“If we exceed our goal, we will donate more to Friend, Inc. with a different business as the food supplier,” said Holt.
The GoFundMe page https:// www.gofundme.com/f/youngones-records-smallbusinessrelief was started on April 17, which was originally scheduled to be Record Store Day weekend.
At this time, the page has raised $2,275 of the $6,000 fundraising goal. The first $500 donated to the fundraiser has already passed on to Mamma’s and Friend, Inc. and the free pizza coupons have been distributed to Friend.
“We are truly grateful to Young Ones and Mamma’s Pizza for the donation to Friend, Inc. Community Services,” said Sandra Wise, executive director at Friend Inc.
“The pizza coupon certainly put a smile on our families’ faces to be able to receive such a treat. Thank you again to Chris for coming up with the idea to help those in need in our community.”
“There are a lot of families who are struggling to pay bills and buy food, so this helps Friend, Inc. to have some additional food to provide to their clients,” Holt said. “Our customers have been donating what they can and have also shared the fundraiser on Facebook to help spread the word.”
The funds raised will help Young Ones to pay rent, utilities and other bills so the business can survive the store being closed to customers. Young Ones continues to serve customers with online sales. For more information, go to https://youngonesrecords. com/.
Holt hopes that Kutztown will be the same post COVID-19, as it was before the outbreak, with all local businesses intact.
“That’s why I wanted to help not just Young Ones, but other local businesses and residents as well,” he said.
For more information, go to https://www.gofundme.com/f/ young-ones-records-smallbusinessrelief. Also visit Young Ones Records on Facebook and online at https://youngonesrecords.com/.