A local 10-year-old chose to give gifts instead of receive them this year for his birthday. Gabe lives in Salem and asked for donations for the Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center. The community certainly showed up!
Instead of receiving gifts, a soon-to-be 10-year-old is going to be the one giving out presents this year. He's taking up donations for the SWVA Wildlife Center of Roanoke during a drive-by birthday parade.
But that borrowing was a vital lifeline for the family-owned downtown Erie business that Stephanie Manus oversees.
Manus is a co-owner of Manus Sunoco, 26 E. 12th St., a five-employee gas station and convenience store that has operated 24 hours a day since the coronavirus pandemic spawned nationwide shutdowns in March.
However, Manus estimates that the early months of the pandemic cost the five-employee business nearly 65% of its business “because people weren’t going anywhere and people weren’t driving.
“Remember, we stayed open when a lot of everything was closed,” Manus said. “There were a lot of restricted hours and things, and the entire city was nearly shut down. And we lost a lot of business on that.”