Back in the July/August issue, Discover Grove City Magazine highlighted some of the fantastic examples of community members supporting each other right here in Grove City. Since then, your neighbors have stepped it up even further and found new and innovative ways to help each other during a difficult year.
The Community Tee Project
One small business owner who rose to the occasion is Mojo Apparel’s Bill Chaffin. Known for making spirit wear for local schools and sports teams, Chaffin pivoted during the pandemic to support other small businesses.
Chaffin and the Mojo Apparel team partnered with Leber Design and Print, making and selling apparel for everyone’s favorite Grove City businesses. Patrons selected and purchased a T-shirt with the name or logo of their favorite participating Grove City businesses printed on the front. Every cent of profit made on the shirts was donated back to those businesses.
“There are a lot of businesses here in town that I already do apparel for, so those were easy ones because I already had their logos,” Chaffin says. “Then, I actually went and walked down the street, door to door to local businesses here on Broadway, and just told them what I was doing.”
The initiative helped more than 50 small businesses, from beauty salons and fitness locations to landscaping firms and tattoo parlors and everything in between. Grove City Church of the Nazarene helped out by allowing Mojo Apparel to use its parking lot as a centralized pickup location for T-shirt sales.
“Ultimately, it took the community to make this possible,” Chaffin says. “They’re the ones that were buying the shirts and proving to everybody that we’re willing to step up.”
The Community Tee Project raised $11,840 total, but the impact the project made wasn’t only monetary – it showed businesses that Grove City’s residents really care.
“I’m a small business as well. When you have another small business willing to help out, it shows that sense of community where we’re all in it together,” Chaffin says. “We’re all fighting the same uphill battle.”
Project Altogether
The folks at Grove City Brewing Co. were also inspired to support its community during the pandemic.
First, the brewery teamed up with Visit Grove City to produce the Altogether Adventure Ale to encourage tourism and draw visitors to Grove City. Head brewer Trevor Luther took that idea and shifted the focus to create Project Altogether.
“The idea was to brew a locally crafted beer in the spirit of bringing together and supporting our community of small businesses as a fundraiser, to help our small businesses and preserve the heart of Grove City,” says Jodi Burroughs, co-owner of Grove City Brewing Co.
Project Altogether brought in the Heart of Grove City, Visit Grove City, the Grove City Area Chamber of Commerce and a number of local businesses to carry out the fundraising and outreach of the initiative.
“The project was more than just the beer,” Burroughs says. “We had a number of small Grove City businesses join us in this fundraising effort by selling their own dedicated item in their shops and donating any proceeds to Project Altogether. It helped them to not only get a sale they may not have gotten, but also the exposure when they needed it most.”
The project raised more than $8,000 in donations as of early November. The effort doesn’t stop there, though. Project Altogether is in the process of becoming an independent nonprofit organization.
“It will continue its efforts to support the small business community of Grove City well into the future,” Luther says. “As we continue to raise funds, (funds) will be available to help support start-ups, those who fall on hard times due to fire or natural disasters out of their control, as well as things like pandemics and sudden illnesses that cause business to suffer. One hundred percent of all money raised by Project Altogether will go to help those in our community that need it.”
While there are many uncertainties in the future due to COVID-19, one thing is for sure: Grove City residents will always have their community’s back.
Sarah Robinson is a contributing editor. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.