Funding and Devil's Night

You may recall that we put in for a City Grant earlier this year, not getting chosen in their random lottery. We did get the PPP Loan as well as a County Grant and a State Grant, though, so I was pretty happy, and the funds were crucial to allowing us to stay in business despite a serious drop in customer count after COVID. 

If you feel like having some fun today, go to 
Google and click on the header to play this year's 
Google Ghost Game. Save the cat from the 
ghosts by drawing the symbols onto your 
screen. It's fun and why not have some fun 
during Halloween season in a pandemic? 

Out of the blue, I got an email from the City on Monday, requesting us to resubmit some general information because they had received more funding and were re-opening their grant funding to those who didn't get funding in the first round. DH and I discussed whether or not to try again, finally deciding that we would go ahead and submit a second time, which I did. 

We probably won't have the check until late next 
week, but the City finally came through for us and 
we won funding in their second lottery. Cha-Ching! 

I got an email from them yesterday that we had been approved, so after they finalize the contract, they will mail a check to us and we will finally have grants from all of the different entities we had attempted. I'm rather chuffed about the whole thing - every entity was a lot of work and lots of different supplementary paperwork, but all told, after we get this current final grant, we will have received $37,600 from the assorted entities. That has allowed us to keep our doors open, even though our walk-through customers are down almost 50%. I'm very thankful. 

On that note, I'm going to make today's post fast and head out to the shop. I'm busy working on my Holiday Cards and need all of the pre-opening time I can get to continue the process. They're not extremely complicated this year, but they still take some serious (and fun) time. 

Devil's Night used to be very bad, especially in Detroit, 
Michigan. It's toned down a bit now, but it's still a time 
to be careful, especially during these COVID times 
with the election so close and tempers so high. 
Stay home and stay safe, please. 

Tonight is often called "Devil's Night" and has been prone to pranks and sometimes more sinister activities. Please stay home and stay safe, be well, and wear your mask. I'll be back to celebrate Halloween with all of you tomorrow.