The Lake Street Council has distributed its first grants from a fund to help businesses destroyed in riots at the end of May along the popular south Minneapolis corridor.
The nonprofit announced Wednesday that it's given $2.8 million to 175 businesses and nonprofits that were damaged or gutted in fires and riots after George Floyd died May 25 at the hands of Minneapolis police. Each recipient got up to $25,000.
The Lake Street Council has been flooded with donations, raising more than $8 million from more than 70,000 people or organizations since starting the fund just over a month ago — one of the small Minneapolis nonprofits suddenly inundated by millions of dollars in donations.
The grants are a "critical first step," Allison Sharkey, council executive director, said in a statement, adding that it will likely take five to 10 years to fully recover from the damage done in just a few days in June. Most of the businesses that received the first grants are owned by people of color, including Black, American Indian and immigrant owners, and most are small businesses with fewer than 10 employees.
