“Yesterday, a call changed my life,” Prosen said. “It made Christmas Eve very special. I was very surprised, I felt very honored to receive these funds from Barstool.”
In his grant presentation video, Prosen admits his family business is struggling.
“I’m sorry. I’ll get so emotional, but this is my home. My employees are not just my employees. My employees are my family,” he said.
He sent the video to the Barstool Fund for financial help for his difficult restaurant.
“It’s hard, it’s very hard. 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,” Prosen said.
Despite the challenges of the last nine months, he has refused to cut his payroll.
He was driving Thursday when he received a call from Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy, who recently founded the Barstool Fund. The fund supports small businesses affected by the shutdowns 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’re getting thousands of emails,” he said. “The basic requirements we have: Your payroll needs to be activated. We don’t just want to help business owners, we want to help employees.”
Prosen was so overwhelmed by the news that she would receive funding that she had to pull ahead. Portnoy gives you $ 15,000 every month until your restaurant can open at full capacity.
“He’s someone with a long history of success, a loyal customer base,” he said. “Obviously the restaurant is your life and to lose it like that, without any guilt, these are the people you want to help.”
“That’s huge. And I’ll be able to sleep better at night for the next few nights,” Prosen said.
The Barstool Fund was launched in collaboration with the 30-Day Non-Profit Fund. Portnoy had the idea to start the fund after New York renewed its ban on indoor food. The National Restaurant Association believes the industry is in free fall, citing data released in early December that 17% of restaurants, more than 110,000 establishments, have closed permanently or long-term since the start of the pandemic. Prosen is one of 14 entrepreneurs who have received money so far.
Major funders include the New York Yankees, Winklevoss twins and Marcus Lemonis of “The Profit” on CNBC. Portnoy has also challenged other big names to give to the fund, including Elon Musk, Tom Brady and Roger Goodell.
Portnoy said that since he went to jail for Tom Brady, he would like the quarterback to donate to his fund. He also challenged Roger Goodell, saying, “If you give $ 250,000 to this, and the guy earns $ 40 million a year by the way, if you give $ 250,000, I’ll match it with my own money.”
Copyright © 2020 WLS-TV. All rights reserved.