The popular sports and entertainment website, Barstool Sports, and its president, Dave Portnoy, founded the Barstool Fund to keep small, family-owned businesses afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Panino's, a longtime family-owned-and-operated Italian restaurant, will now be getting a slice of Barstool's COVID-19 relief. Panino's has four Colorado locations; three in Colorado Springs and one in Fort Collins on Prospect Rd., next to CSU's campus. All locations are owned by family members.

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'I promise you, it means more than you'll ever know,' AJ Frasca said in his submission video. Frasca is the third-generation owner of Panino's, started by his grandparents in the 70s.

Shortly after reaching out, Frasca got a FaceTime call from Portnoy, who said Barstool would be granting some of its COVID relief fund to Panino's, because they're exactly the kind of business 'we don't want to lose.'

'We wanna add you to the fund, and give you the support you need until this thing's done, ' Portnoy said in the FaceTime call.

Businesses will receive funds within 72 hours of the call, and Barstool will continue to check in with the recipients every month. You can see the submission video and FaceTime call, below.

As of noon on Monday, January 18, Barstool Fund has raised over $25 million for 131 small businesses across the country.

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