Armco Credit Union employees Miranda Lunn, and Michele Jurysta with Josh Riesmeyer of ANR and Hayley Merchant of CCR hold the gift cards to be distributed to local businesses Tuesday.

A countywide partnership raised more than $100,000 for 1,000 laid-off workers in the hospitality industry throughout the county.

Jack Cohen, president of the Butler County Tourism and Convention Bureau, said that $100 Visa gift cards were distributed to employers for their furloughed workers, “so their spirits would also be lifted.”

Cohen said 800 cards would be distributed this week to those who registered for them and the remaining 200 would be distributed before the end of the year.

Cohen said the tourism bureau, county commissioners and Center for Community Resources partnered in the We Care Butler County project to raise money for those whose jobs were affected by Gov. Tom Wolf's second wave of COVID-19 protective mitigation measures put in place Dec. 12. The campaign was announced Dec. 10.

The orders closed restaurants, bars, gyms and many other facilities in an attempt to stem the spread of COVID-19 by preventing mass gatherings. They will remain in effect until Jan. 4.

“We did pretty good,” Cohen said. “Raising $100,000, that's a lot of money.”

He said when the We Care campaign's donation button and explanation appeared on the tourism bureau website, the donations began coming in fast and furious.

“We knew right away that people in this community care about everybody,” Cohen said. “People didn't have to think about it. They knew they had to step up and they did.”

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