Tacoma businesses turn to GoFundMe as money dries up during coronavirus shutdown
Facing an uncertain future with Washington’s stay-home order now extended through at least May 4, Tacoma businesses and employees have been turning to GoFundMe to provide financial support when money has dried up.
Started in 2010, GoFundMe is a fundraising website where users can create campaigns people can donate to. GoFundMe provides the hosting, but users must do the promotion for their campaigns.
The GoFundMe company makes a profit through processing fees and tips.
With the increasing spread of COVID-19 and uncertainty about when federal relief can be expected, there has been an explosion of campaigns.
According to the New York Times, “between March 20 and March 24, the number of coronavirus-related campaigns on GoFundMe shot up by 60 percent, from 22,000 to 35,000.”
In Tacoma, campaigns range from one created for the employees of The Grand Cinema to one for the baristas at Bluebeard Coffee.
There are mixed emotions about how GoFundMe has become a private social safety net.
Wendell Ratliff, a projectionist at The Grand, said the campaign was created to help people with expenses like rent, but it still has been a trying process.
“It is really challenging that the need for GoFundMe even exists,” Ratliff said. “The future looks potentially bright with the response and the care that the government will take with a lot of people who are laid off due to COVID-19, but it is really frustrating to see that we weren’t prepared and that it has taken as long as it has.”
The funds provided from The Grand’s campaign, $5,285 raised of a $13,500 goal at the time of publication, is something the employees need.
“I think there are a lot of people out there who, without the support of GoFundMe campaigns in this sort of situation, the struggle would be even worse,” Ratliff said. “It is kind of bittersweet.”
Bluebeard owner, Kevin McGlocklin, put together the campaign for his employees and named it the Tip Jar.
The shop is offering some services, but all the front-of-house baristas are currently without work.
Upon closing, McGlocklin gave all the employees an average week of pay and encouraged them to begin filing for unemployment. Still, he wanted to provide some immediate relief as he echoed the concerns that the federal relief might be a long time away.
“I felt like the most responsible thing to do was to do a tip jar,” McGlocklin said. “Any resources, especially immediate resources that could be available before people are going to be receiving the check or direct deposit from the federal response, would be appreciated.”
At the time of publication, the Bluebeard campaign was at $1,238 raised of a $2,500 goal.
“Split between eight or nine baristas. It’s not very much,” McGlocklin said.
He also started a GoFundMe on behalf of his neighbors on Sixth Avenue, Old Milwaukee Cafe, almost a year ago when the owners had to close due to an injury.
That campaign is still open with $13,915 raised, surpassing the ten thousand goal. McGlocklin spoke to how that campaign was started at a time when there wasn’t as much competition for donations. Now everyone is facing down a similar situation with only so many donors with only so much money.
“There wasn’t as much competition for donations at that point. It did really, really well,” McGlocklin said. “I would love it if there were more people with more dollars to give, but I understand how tight so many budgets are.”
That makes the future challenging, but there is still appreciation for the community support.
“It is pretty incredible to see the community come together,” Ratliff said. “We’re seeing so much support, and it warms my heart to look at how the community has come through for a lot of us.”
This story was originally published April 3, 2020 at 1:02 PM.
