Hispanic-owned restaurants, bodegas receive targeted COVID-19 aid
CBSN
Claudi Berroa, owner of Claudy's, a Peruvian restaurant that opened in New York during the pandemic, has avoided the same fate as many of her fellow small-business owners. While some of her neighboring businesses have closed their doors for good, Berroa is investing in her restaurant, thanks to a much-needed infusion of capital.
Food and beverage giant PepsiCo is investing $50 million in small, Hispanic-owned restaurants, bodegas and butcheries across the U.S. through a program called "Juntos Crecemos," or "Together We Rise," part of larger racial equity initiative from PepsiCo.
Berroa and her husband said the grant was especially helpful given that they'd missed out on government-sponsored aid like the Paycheck Protection Program aimed at helping businesses like theirs.
A group of House Democrats Tuesday called for action from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, days after CBS News published an investigation which found dozens of law enforcement officials illegally sold firearms, even weapons of war, across 23 states, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C.