WINDSOR, ONT. -- A new campaign will allow for Windsorites to help support their favourite downtown businesses impacted by the pandemic.

The Downtown Windsor Business Improvement Association (DWBIA) has launched a new donation campaign allowing community members to support local businesses as Windsor-Essex prepares for the reopening of the economy.

"This is an effort to support downtown businesses, many of which have been the heart and soul of the core," DWBIA chair Brian Yeomans said in a news release. "The money collected can be used for costs like payroll and rent, and may help see them through this crisis."

While the federal government created a loan program offering wage subsidies and government back loans, not all businesses qualify. Many small businesses do not have the required minimum payroll of $50,000 including those with few staff or no staff and self-employed proprietors, the DWBIA says.

The campaign is designed to help out small businesses in the core that have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

A donation platform is available at https://www.downtownwindsor.ca/support/ for donors to search and select local businesses that were forced to temporarily close.   

All proceeds from the crowdfunding initiative go directly to the selected business. The DWBIA will take on the fees associated to the platform.