COLORADO SPRINGS — A local Colorado Springs restaurant got a big boost Friday.
Friday afternoon, AJ Frasca, owner of Panino's, got a call from Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy.
Portnoy was calling to say that he was donating $5,000 from the "Barstool Fund" to Panino's.
The Barstool Fund is an initiative started by Portnoy to provide financial aid to restaurants that have been hit hard by the pandemic.
The Fund has raised more than $26 million to date and has provided support to 127 businesses across the country.
The next business the @BarstoolFund is helping is Panino's (Colorado Springs, CO)
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) January 15, 2021
Here is the call:
Click To Donate - https://t.co/UhJEw0e2QT #barstoolfund
pic.twitter.com/M08A7EA7Xd
News 5 spoke to Frasca on Friday after he received the news from Portnoy.
"I cried, a lot. I'm trying not to today because it's been a really emotional day," Frasca said. "I really appreciate the positivity that it's putting into our community and into our business and so let's keep going."
Frasca said he plans to spend the funds with a local marketing agency that will help keep the business going.
News 5 featured Panino's in our "We're Open" series early on in the pandemic.
The restaurant thought of an innovative way for parents to engage kids who are stuck at home by providing them with take home pizza kits that had fun and engaging activity for kids to work on while at home.
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