An initiative to promote buying local during the COVID-19 pandemic starts Saturday.
The Big Spend follows Takeout Tuesdays in Windsor, Ont. and Takeout Wednesdays nationwide in promoting small businesses in the community.
Organizer Tim Schindel tells AM800's The Afternoon News the idea is to just think about what you're looking for and ask yourself, can I buy this from a small business in my community?
"It's just kind of a fun thing we wanted to do to boost local businesses right now," he says. "COVID-19 has rocked them particularly hard and I just wanted find a way to help them out."
The Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce is one of many contributing to the event, according to Schindel.
"The real heavy lifting is done by chambers of commerce and by local businesses that are just getting a hold of our promotional materials and putting it out there in front of their customers," says Schindel.
Schindel says a goal is to get 1-million Canadians to spend local Saturday.
To report your local purchase visit www.thebigspend.com.
— with files from AM800's Patty Handysides.