SNEADS FERRY, N.C. (WNCT) — Local restaurants and shops have been struggling to keep their doors open and lights on. Two such restaurants have taken to social media to ask for the public’s help.

Nicole Schmidt, the owner of The Crooked Lotus, and Jeanette Lopez, the owner of Salty Sistas, each took to social media to ask for support from the community to help keep their business running. Since the busy tourist season has ended, they both said many of the businesses there have been hit hard.

“So many times people say, ‘Oh, my gosh, that was our favorite place,’ or ‘We’re sad to see that place g,” said Schmidt. “We don’t want to be that next statistic of that.”

“Our landlord was very generous for the first time since we’ve been in this restaurant … is working with us on this month’s rent so that we can, you know, kind of come back from some of this loss, you know, and just try to keep the doors open,” Lopez said. “But others, many of us right now that are just literally a week or two away from not being able to pay a bill that would keep the restaurant open.”

Both business owners encourage the community to continue to support their mom-and-pop businesses and help keep them afloat.