There are plenty of ways to get out there and support the Kern County community in the coming weeks. Especially when it comes to helping local businesses get back on their feet after the pandemic.
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Several locally owned companies have banded together to help inject cash into struggling Bakersfield restaurants and are challenging others to do the same.
In the year of coronavirus, when Christmas parties are a no-go and the typical gift baskets and logo-emblazoned tchotchkes given as presents seem to have lost their luster, the companies are reallocating that money into buying thousands of dollars in gift cards from local restaurants to give as gifts to vendors, employees and customers.Â
So far, an estimated $50,000 has been spent on the effort, possibly more since no one is officially keeping track. The idea was we wanted to do a local stimulus, said Tim Sullivan Jr., vice president of business operations at Sullivan Petroleum, a fuel distribution company that also owns Sully s gas stations.