Covid hit small businesses hard, and yet many small businesses still found ways to give back to their communities.

One local small businesses who both struggled in the pandemic but also supported their community is Parma Pizza and Grill in Dallastown.

Owner Darren Bonacquisti said it has been a challenge finding and keeping employees. 

“Hiring during Covid has been very difficult, many people are very hesitant to work in a restaurant dealing with so many people and not wanting to increase their risk of Covid,” Bonacquisti said. 

“We have been very lucky to have a great staff who loves working at Parma and loves serving our communities!” Bonacquisti exclaimed.

There have been many challenges during Covid for small businesses.

According to Bonacquisti, some of the biggest challenges have been, “making sure to keep our restaurant extra clean, increasing our sanitizing, make sure employees are being conscious of mask wearing, hand washing and cleaning.”

He also said that limited dine-in seating was an issue as well as competing with national chains.

“National chains are able to use their leverage in television, radio, and print advertising when small business owners are just trying to keep their employees working, and our doors open,” Bonacquisti stated.

Small business owners often give back to the community, and Bonacquisti has a heart for the Dallastown community.

He said, “When I purchased Parma it was important to me to be a solid partner in the community and giving back as much as I can. When Covid hit, it became even more important.”

He was very concerned that many children would not get many meals outside of school when the schools shut down. He started a free student lunch program on March 13, 2020 and they have served over 6,000 free lunches to students who stopped in for a hot lunch.

Parma offered multiple fundraisers to help non-profit organizations during the pandemic.

“We sold t-shirts, and we found sponsors to pay the cost so we could donate 100% of all money collected to three very worthy organizations. We are donating $525 to Dallastown/Yoe Fire Company, $525 to Red Lion Fire Company, and $525 to the life skills class at Dallastown High School in honor of my son Blake who was part of this awesome class.”

This Christmas they also had a giving tree where they had 99 children’s names listed with gift ideas and the community purchased gifts for each child. 

When asked about the importance of giving back to the community personally, Bonacquisti said, “Giving back has always been important to me. My parents made sure everyone was welcome in our house and a meal was always available, we didn’t have a lot but we had enough to share with anyone who needed help. I have been blessed with two incredible sons and the means to offer help to anyone in need.” 

When Bonacquisti bought Parma in Dallastown, he didn’t want it to be just an ordinary pizza shop, he wanted it to be a part of the community.

“Small business owners are truly a part of the community, we live, we work here, and we care about our communities and are honored to earn the business we get every day, giving back is just our way of saying thank you.”