It’s true that hard times reveal a person’s true nature…or in this case the heart of a community. The recent changes in lifestyle have been hard on everybody. Not one of us has been unaffected by COVID-19. In this case, it has exposed the heart of mid-Missouri…a heart of compassion, determination, and grit. At the risk of leaving someone out…we want to give a shout-out to the amazing ways our local businesses have reinvented themselves and stepped up to the plate in response to the pandemic.

If you ask any of the people behind these businesses if they are heroes, they would probably deny it. If you pressed them further, they would likely admit that they are just as scared and anxious as the rest of us. It takes courage to face your fears. It takes grit to reinvent yourself to respond to a crisis in a positive way…knowing that likely, the financial fallout will be difficult to overcome. But respond they have…and in inspiring ways. Here’s just a little of what we’ve seen…

Sky Zone is temporarily closed BUT is making pizza kits for families to make at home. They put all the ingredients together for the pizzas they make there so that families can have a fun dinner night/activity to do together.

Fast Yowi Tee started a new online retail site that supports local small businesses at https://www.lovelocalcomo.org/. T-shirts on the site are branded with the logos of local businesses, each one struggling through the pandemic. Shirts are priced at $25.00 but here’s the deal - when you buy a shirt, $20.45 of that goes directly to the business on the shirt.

Tacos & Tequila are shopping for and delivering groceries for those in the community (Fulton and Mexico) that are unable to get out and need supplies (groceries & consumables). Anyone who needs groceries can email tnt2020crisis@gmail.com for more information.

EquipmentShare provided and delivered free meals for students of Columbia Public Schools over Spring Break. That grew both in support and demand, into No Child Hungry by EquipmentShare where they are taking donations to continue to feed families during the crisis.

Dogmaster Distillery is making, instead of spirits, their own hand sanitizer for the public.  Check their Facebook page for details of when new batches are available. 

Como Smoke & Fire is preparing free boxed lunches for kids.

Appletree Quilting is doing a Sew & Mask Campaign helping create masks for healthcare workers.

Kaldi's Coffee donated all their coffee and perishable food to The Boys and Girls Club in Columbia and, in St. Louis to local hospitals, passing them out to doctors and nurses.  

Hats off to the employees of local businesses who are being extravagantly generous in taking care of the community. Hats off to local business owners who are being courageous in their ability to redefine their business models and figure out ways to continue to offer products and services in new ways. And last but not least, a salute to everyone who is pushing past the fear and stepping up to the plate to get it done. 

We salute you! 

And we're absolutely SURE there are more local businesses out there doing awesome stuff right now, but it's impossible for us to know about them all. Would you please take a minute and acknowledge their efforts in the comments section for this post on the main blog page?  We'd love to know about them and celebrate their good old-fashioned Missouri resilience.