Quarantine. Social distancing. Self isolation. Shelter in place. This terminology is all-too-common now during the Coronavirus pandemic. We're all doing our part to stay home, stay safe, and stay healthy. But in the midst of this unprecedented time, we wanted to do our part to help the small business community in the Quad Cities.
From the moment of Governor Reynolds' proclamation for all Iowa hospitality operators to suspend on-premise service on March 17th at noon, we had less than 90 minutes to make some decisions. We had already discussed this possibility and what we thought was the right thing to do, but the reality of shutting down our entire business was certainly daunting. Switching to take-out only didn't make sense to us, so shutdown we did... and it happened fast! We cleaned out all of the perishable food in-house and sent it home with our employees, friends, and family so it wouldn't go to waste.
So now what? Between contacting vendors to cancel orders, reaching out to reschedule upcoming events in The Fairhaven, following the Iowa Restaurant Association updates, and watching way too much news, I knew we couldn't just stay quiet on the sidelines. All small businesses would be negatively affected by this, but many needed to continue operations in some way. We've always advocated for supporting local and thought I could expand on that during this difficult time.
In hopes of spreading some #LocalLove, we will continue to do what we can to show our support. It's so much more than the restaurant industry! Simply put, spend money at the places you want to exist when this all calms down. Buy a gift card from a local boutique, get take-out, give blood, order flowers, post a rave review - these acts of kindness will mean the world to your favorite small business!