Online community group seeks to support Montreal's Asian-owned businesses

The pandemic has brought hard times for many businesses, but some Asian ownersstruggling to stay afloathave also had to deal with incidents of racism and vandalism.

Those challenges inspired Local 88, a Facebook group that highlights Asian shops and restaurants and encourages local support.

The group was started by Laura Luu after she saw that Asian companies were being unfairly targeted.

"I noticed some businesses that were boycotted because ofCOVID-19, because the Asian community was associated with the virus," she said. "The goal of Local 88 is to encourage Asian businesses and to get through the pandemic."

Luutold CBC that it's not just businesses, but people toobecoming targets of verbaland physicalattacks.

"I think people are angry and they look for scapegoat. And that's why they target the Asian community."

She started Local 88to change people's perceptions and help drive new customers to strugglingshops.

"It's a showcase where some restaurants, some groceries and some caterers can advertise themselves. And some members of the group can also promote all the local business and local restaurants that they like."

For business owners, the group has been more than a symbolic support.

Paying it forward

Cindy Ha, who runsVietnamese restaurant Au 14 Prince-Arthur, saidLocal 88 has been a blessing.

"The people that are on the page can see what's new on the menu and everything, so it gives us a nice visibility," she said. "The whole restaurant community has been closer together since the pandemic, helping each other out."

Ha has been inspired by the solidarity she's seen and is paying it forward byhanding out meals to people living on the streets.

"We decided to create a network between the restaurant community," Ha said."Every single Sunday we go and distribute all the food we get."

"If everybody does a little bit of their part, together as a community I'm pretty sure that we'll see the light at the end of this tunnel."