** UPDATE (JULY 27, 2020) **
I am so grateful to everyone who pledged to support small businesses (many who supported multiple spots too!!) and so grateful to everyone who shared and encouraged others to support small businesses as well. I hope we can keep this momentum going and continue shopping small, supporting small businesses throughout the pandemic.
Scroll down to read about the initiative and see the list of 50 + all 500 business nominations if you’d like ideas on places to try / support and beyond this specific July 2020 date.
THANK YOU AGAIN TO EVERYONE WHO SUPPORTED THIS PROJECT!!!
Thank you to everyone who supported small businesses and made #AdoptAShopYEG for #LindorkFest a success!!
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Original Post:
Sign up to “adopt” a small business in the Edmonton area (#AdoptAShopYEG) then support them by spending at least $20 at their business between July 17-26, as part of my birthday week (#LindorkFest 2020)!
Share about this initiative on social media using the hashtags #AdoptAShopYEG + #LindorkFest to spread the word and get more people participating and supporting small business.
How this works:
From July 4 – 12, I’ll be compiling a list of Edmonton and area small businesses who are struggling and could use community support. THE NOMINATION PERIOD IS NOW OVER. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE FOR YOUR 500+ SMALL BUSINESS NOMINATIONS!!!
On July 13, I’ll put out the list and a sign-up form. Sign up to “adopt” one of the shops listed by July 17, then go support them with your minimum $20 spend until July 26 (my birthday)!
250 SPOTS FOR ALL 50 BUSINESSES HAVE BEEN CLAIMED YAY! You can still sign up for additional spots to support the businesses but our goal was to get at least 5 people spending at least $20 at each of the 50 businesses and we have reached that goal. You are an amazing community, thank you! Now it’s time to spend!!
Each small business will hopefully get at least five “adopters” signed up (more is great too) but the goal is to get people to sign up to support ALL spots listed and truly make a difference for these small businesses during such a difficult time!
This curated list of 50 shops was selected for a variety of reasons, out of the 500+ nominations. Obviously there are many small businesses that could use your help but this is a curated list as I think it would be less impactful and maybe not realistic if we try stretch this too thin.
The final list of 50 shops represents 50% BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Colour)-Owned shops as well.
I gave preference to restaurant/food businesses (that’s generally my area of focus), and shops that have physical locations (and therefore more expenses like rent to pay for). But any local business where people can purchase products, services or gift cards were sprinkled in too.
This July “birthday week support a small biz-movement” idea was inspired by two things: First, based off of Edmontonian Andy Grabia (@agrabia on Twitter)‘s initial tweet that we should be “adopting” small struggling businesses to help them through this time (he came up with the #AdoptAShopYEG hashtag!) as well as TELUS’ #StandWithOwners campaign, where they’ve been rallying support for and giving money directly to small business owners across Canada to help them during the pandemic. They recently placed a $500 order for my parents’ restaurant King Noodle House Pho Hoang to support them as business owners (it made such a difference for them!), and also gift food to local healthcare workers. There are some great support local/biz initiatives happening and I hope this helps too.
(Note: I’m a proud #TELUS_Partner ambassador!)
I wanted to put Andy’s idea and TELUS’ notion of standing with small business owners into a simple, tangible action, during a very specific time to create some positive change—celebrating and supporting small businesses (and also celebrating my birthday too, lol). That thing is:
#AdoptAShopYEG for #LindorkFest 2020!
Here’s the timeline for this project:
- July 4 – July 12: Compile suggestions on small Edmonton businesses that are struggling and could use support. THANK YOU FOR NOMINATING 500+ BUSINESSES! I’ve removed the form link.
- July 13 – July 16: #AdoptAShopYEG small business list and sign-up form is live, so you can sign up to adopt a shop for #LindorkFest.
Click here to view the sign-up form and sign up to support a shop!!
- July 17 – July 26: #AdoptAShopYEG for #LindorkFest 2020! Spend at least $20 at the shop you signed up to adopt during this week. Feel free to spend more and feel free to spill over into supporting other small businesses too but at the very least, spend $20 at the shop you signed up for. Make sure you share on social media using the hashtags so I can re-share and we can encourage others to get involved too.
That’s it!! I have no expectations about how this will go, lol (obviously I hope it goes well). If we as a community can come together to inject a lot of money into struggling small businesses in the Edmonton area, then that would be amazing. After my birthday week is over, I hope people continue using the #AdoptAShopYEG hashtag and carry forward the spirit of the project (support small business!)
Why am I doing this?
I love supporting small businesses. I have my own small business and I grew up working at my parents small business (that is also a struggling small business). I want to use my platform for good and this is just one fun way to do that. Many businesses are struggling and while we may not be able to support all of them, all the time, we can try to make an impact through initiatives like this. Plus I love celebrating birthdays (especially my own, so it seemed like a good match-up lol).
A bit of background on #LindorkFest:
As mentioned, I LOVE celebrating birthdays. For years I’ve celebrated birthday weeks and in 2019 I celebrated a birthday MONTH! Usually my birthday weeks involve eating out and supporting businesses! I also weave in volunteering to give back during my birthday week (helps balance out the overindulgence lol). I believe no matter what age you turn, you should still spend at the very least a day to feel special.
This year (2020), I hope to expand my birthday week #LindorkFest and invite as many of you to participate as possible by celebrating and supporting small businesses through this #AdoptAShopYEG initiative. I can’t wait to celebrate in this way with you!
Are you a business in the Edmonton area that has been struggling?
Or is there a business you love that you know is struggling?
- The nomination form is now closed—thank you for submitting 500+ small business nominations!
Are you interested in signing up to adopt an Edmonton area small business?
Want to support even MORE local business?
What if you want to support but you don’t have the money to spend right now?
- Hey that’s totally understandable too. It’s a tough time for a lot of people, small business owners and otherwise. If you can’t spend money at a business as part of this project, you can still help by SHARING about the initiative or the idea of supporting local, adopting a shop, standing with small business owners on your social media! (#AdoptAShopYEG + #StandWithOwners!)
- Your shared post might reach and inspire someone else to spend. That can help make a huge difference (as this recent example supporting business owner Alan of Yoshii Express demonstrates).
Thanks @agrabia for your original #AdoptAShopYEG idea!
Thanks TELUS for your #StandWithOwners idea!
