Help Is On The Way For Point Roberts Store

SEATTLE (AP) – Money is on the way to help save the only grocery store in an isolated Washington state community that’s been especially strained by the pandemic-related closure of the U.S.-Canada border.

About 1,300 people live on Point Roberts, on the tip of a peninsula south of Vancouver, British Columbia, that juts into U.S. territory.

With the border closed to nonessential travel since March 2020, the Point Roberts International Marketplace has lost much of its business and faced possible closure July 15.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said Tuesday the state would give the market $100,000 from its strategic reserves, preserving its 10 jobs and avoiding a food security crisis in the community.