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Supporting Asian-owned businesses in a time of need
One way people are showing support for the Asian American community is by backing Asian American owned businesses in the Bay Area.
SAN JOSE, Calif. - One way people are showing support for the Asian American community is by backing Asian American owned businesses in the Bay Area.
"Thank you very much for whoever has been supporting me," said Long Nguyen, owner of San Jose Tropical Fruits.
Nguyen is grateful for his customers. Many of whom are checking in to see how he’s doing after thieves broke into his business earlier this month. He opened the business in 2009, and since the start of 2021 he's had three break-ins. The last one was the worst.
"They broke in and they stole all my supplies, my documents and my scratcher tickets from California Lottery," said Nguyen.
Nguyen estimates a loss of thousands of dollars. The store is his only source of income. He’s unable to afford to fix his front door.
"I feel worried and nervous," said Nguyen.
In the same plaza, another mom and pop shop World Fresh Fruits were hit by thieves twice this week.
"They broke into the window and stole some of our fruits, we came in the morning," said Jackie Nguyen. "We were pretty shocked. We didn’t expect this to happen."
On social media, the family of Golden House Restaurant in San Jose sharing photos of their restaurant ransacked this month. The post ended with "all this hate and crime needs to stop right here."
"It makes me sad, it makes me really sad," said Joy Alegria of Livermore.
A post from a member of the Livermore Rants and Raves Facebook page asked for recommendations for an Asian American or Black owned businesses.
"I understand she was trying to show support for those who may be hurting," said Alegria.
The woman ended up buying from Joy Alegria, Filipina American owner of Happy Macs and More. For Alegria, it gave her some comfort.
"To me it was her, shedding a light saying this is our community we need to support those in our community," said Alegria.
KTVU reached out to police to see if the businesses in San Jose were victims of hate crimes.
Azenith Smith is a reporter for KTVU. Email Azenith at azenith.smith@fox.com and follow her on Twitter and Instagram @AzenithKTVU or Facebook or ktvu.com.