A handful of volunteers woke up early this morning to help out some local businesses.

Many of the shops along Hillsborough street near North Carolina State University's campus said they have lost a lot of business because of the construction on the street.

"I can't think of anything more important for us to do than to support our local businesses," said Nina Szlosberg

Frazier's restaurant owner Kevin Jennings says he's been dealt a triple blow.

The economy's in a slump, the Wolfpack has gone away for the summer and if that wasn't bad enough, the street his business sits on is slated to be under construction for at least a year.

"(It's) pretty close to a night and day difference where there's just a tremendous amount of traffic that has been reduced," Jennings said.

Many people agree the multi-million dollar re-design of Hillsborough is certainly necessary.

"Over the years it's become the most dangerous pedestrian street in the state with the highest amount of pedestrian accidents," Raleigh City Councilman Thomas Crowder said.

But for the many locally-owned businesses that line the street, the construction is taking a hefty toll.

So Szlosberg organized volunteers to go out into the surrounding neighborhoods and pass out coupons as a way to try and drive traffic into the shops.

"Hillsborough street is so important to the life of our city and the businesses are important to the life of hillsborough street," she said.

It is one of the few remaining original main streets that lead all the way to downtown Raleigh and for Jennings, this help from the community let's him know there are people who care his business is there.

"When the community gets together on the businesses behalf without even necessarily being asked by them, it's just unbelievable," he said.

Hillsborough is expected to be completed in August of next year.

Organizers of today's event say they plan to pass out coupons again when school starts at State and also place some on community web sites.