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Prince Edward County has been able to provide aid to as many as 67 area businesses and organizations through the allocation of CARES Act funding.

The county has received $3,978,774 from the federal government as the county’s share of the Coronavirus Relief Fund, which was established by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act of 2020.

The complete list of Prince Edward businesses and organizations receiving CARES Act funds, included at the end of this article, represents a combined allocation of $324,000, with all but four businesses receiving $5,000 each.

Leaders from some of the groups on the list shared how the funds benefited their organizations.

Tony Perini, owner of Perini Pizza, which received $5,000, said he appreciated receiving the CARES Act money.

“It just helps take the pressure off paying the bills,” he said. “I don’t have to think about laying anybody off because we have the money to continue paying people.”

He noted the takeout business is keeping his restaurant going because he is not getting the people sitting in the seats, dining in, like he used to.

“And that’s where the profit is — the people sitting down,” he said. “A $15 pizza going out the door is not as much profit as one sitting at the table with four people with drinks and salads and appetizers. It makes a difference.

“So it just took a little strain off my checkbook,” he said of the CARES money. “You don’t have to worry about cutting any corners anywhere or letting a bill slide for a month. I can keep up.”

Warren Reid, manager of Bland-Reid Funeral Home, said the $5,000 his business received definitely helped, because while some assumed Bland-Reid was not impacted by COVID-19, this was not the case.

“We haven’t really been able to have full services,” he said. “A lot of people have been opting for cremation, as has been the trend for a few years. So just like any other small business, there are bills that need to be paid, vendors still need to be paid.

“And the CARES Act funding that we received from the (county) just really helped us to stay on top of things and to pay off some inventory that we needed, different vendors that may have had small balances that we could just pay and make sure that we stayed in good faith.”

Anthony Walker, owner of Walker’s Carpet & Tile, said the $5,000 of CARES Act money his company received helped with buying materials, but mostly with payroll, allowing him to keep his employees when business was slow.

“People didn’t really want you in their house, so you can’t just lay these guys off, and then people go pick them up, and then you don’t have any help,” he said, noting the CARES funds helped him a lot. “Employees was my biggest thing.”

Kathy Holsopple, executive director of the Pregnancy Support Center of Southside Virginia, also received $5,000 in CARES Act funding.

“We’re really grateful for that opportunity of support from our community and our leadership in our community,” she said. “It was a very important piece for us.”

The center’s funding was down a bit this year because the center is usually able to hold a spring and a fall fundraiser, and it was not able to hold its spring fundraiser in the usual manner this year.

“It’s a banquet,” Holsopple said. “We couldn’t get people together. We had to quickly change gears and move into doing a virtual event, which was great. It’s just (that) the funding amount that we typically would hope to get from the banquet to see us through a year, we weren’t able to raise that. So the $5,000 was a real blessing to us, and basically we’ve used it for the most part for operating expenses,” she added, referring to expenditures that allowed the ministry to keep going.

She noted the center provides free services, and the need for them did not go away even with the COVID-19 pandemic changing much about life in 2020.

On the complete list of Prince Edward businesses and organizations to receive CARES Act funds, there were three listings that received $3,000 each — Bethany Carilli-Community Chiropractic, Waterworks Players and Sunrise Learning Center.

Patricia Thorne-Sojourner Counseling received $2,000.

The following were on the list from the county as having each received $5,000 —

• Active Listings LLC

• Amish Originals

• Andrew Johnson DDS

• Bell Creek Farms

• Bland-Reid Funeral Home

• Carousel Consignment

• Carter’s Flower Shop

• Caryn’s Bridals

• Chapman & Graham-Walker’s Diner

• Cornerstone Construction

• Creative Learning Center

• David Reed-Quality Service

• Eanes Catering

• Ellett’s Embroidery

• Ellington’s Lawn Service

• Farmville Alcohol & Drug Screening

• Farmville Area Chamber of Commerce

• Farmville Chiropractic

• Fevers

• Fred Giles Trucking

• Fuqua School

• Gully Tavern Landscaping

• Habitat for Humanity

• Hands On Lawn Care

• Hendrick’s Store

• Holiday Lake 4H Center

• Joe’s Seafood

• Judy Ellington Design

• JW’s

• Kayton Property Management

• Kingsville Family Services

• Loverde Construction

• MKR Investments-Tom’s Country Store

• Mam Jam’s Candle Company

• Navona Hart-Real Living Cornerstone

• O.O. Stiff Septic

• one19

• Perini Pizza

• Piggy’s Plumbing

• Pregnancy Support Center of Southside Virginia

• R & J Transportation

• Ranck’s Quality Fencing

• Reflections Hair Salon

• Reliable Moving Company

• Riverside Café

• Robert Chapman & Sons

• Sailors Creek Outfitters

• Snuckums Floral

• Southside Pediatrics

• Sprague’s Barber Shop

• St. John Legacy

• Stewart Financial

• The Highlight Zone

• Third Street Brewing

• Three Brothers

• Unique Hair Salon

• Walker’s Carpet & Tile

• Watkins Hearing Aid Center

• Watson & Duggan PLC

• Willoughby Events

• WJ’s Concrete Finishing

• Wright Logging

• Yoder Properties