Barstool Sports Is Rescuing Small PA Businesses From The Pandemic

PENNSYLVANIA — One by one, dozens of small businesses across America and throughout Pennsylvania have received a fateful video call over the last couple of weeks.

When business owners see Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy's face pop up, they instantly know what's happening.

Yet still, it's hard for some of them to put into words.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god," Jamie Weber, co-owner of Conshohocken's beloved Flanigan's Boathouse, said when she answered the phone, in an example which Portnoy called "maybe my fav call yet."

Flanigan's is one of eight Pennsylvania businesses to receive the call since the Barstool Fund launched. As of Tuesday afternoon, more than $18.3 million had been raised to support 76 businesses.

Donations have come in from nearly 145,000 individuals, and that's included some six and seven figure gifts. Kid Rock pledged $100,000. The New York Yankees donated $50,000. It's drawn the attention of sports figures like Tom Brady, who said "Count me in." A Washington, D.C. bar owner pledged all of his proceeds on every Wednesday moving forward to the fund, and urged other businesses that have been able to survive to pitch in.

Portnoy himself kicked things off with a $500,000 personal donation.

RELATED: Barstool Sports Will Help Conshy's Flanigan's Boathouse Survive

Portnoy said he found the recent restrictions in many areas disallowing indoor dining at restaurants unfair.

"How do you expect these people to survive? How are restaurants going to survive?" he said in a video explaining his inspiration for the fund. "They're already on their last legs, and you're pulling the plug."

The response has been immediate and overwhelming from restaurants and other small businesses in need.

"I'm trying very hard to dig into my savings, do the best with what we have..." Enzo Valent, owner of La Collina in Bala Cynwyd, said in a video application to the fund. Valent said he's been in the restaurant business for 58 years and through 10 different countries, and has found a "second family" over the past several decades with his guests at his location overlooking the Schuylkill Expressway in the Philadelphia suburbs.

"At my age, I should be thinking about retiring, but now we are in the middle of the storm, and we are trying and determined to hang on," Valent added.

Over the past week, as word as spread about the project, the amount of money raised has doubled. The figure sat at about $9 million on New Years Eve.

Funding varies. In certain cases, major donors want it earmarked for a specific area, like when Philadelphia Flyers center Kevin Hayes gave $25,000 and asked Barstool to find a deserving business in the Philadelphia area. It wound up going to Phoenix Arts Studio in Blue Bell.

In other cases, no exact monetary limit is given, rather Portnoy tells owners: "we'll be there for the rest of the journey."

A full list of businesses receiving funding in Pennsylvania is included below:

• La Collina, Bala Cynwyd
• Phoenix Arts Studio, Blue Bell
• Flanigan's Boathouse, Conshohocken
• Kelly's Seafood, Philadelphia
• Double DZ Inc., Philadelphia
• Jack's Spot Tavern, Pitman
• Chacko's Family Bowling Center, Wilkes Barre

To donate to the Barstool Fund, see here.