When a mob smashed the window of his store during the G20 protests last month, Khalil Salimi hoped the government would help his business get back on its feet.

Instead, he faced the aftermath on his own, much like dozens of other small business owners whose shops were vandalized and whose customers were scared off by the June 26-27 summit.

The glass cost several thousand dollars to replace, Salimi says, but the drop in sales at his leather-goods store has hurt him even more.

“Still now, people are staying away,” says Salimi, who has owned and run the All Leather shop on Yonge St. near  Gerrard St. since 2001.

Then, a few weeks ago, help came from an unexpected source.

A group of Ryerson University students took up the cause, offering to boost the businesses’ visibility — and, with a bit of luck, their sales.

The group, called StartMeUp Ryerson, essentially acts as a street team for the 14 businesses that accepted their help. All Leather is one of them.

The volunteers printed 2,000 maps of the area, marking the names and locations of participating businesses, and have been handing out the flyers to the public since July 14.

The project, dubbed Protests to Profits, runs until Aug. 6. Some of the merchants are offering discounts to customers who present the map, which shows businesses on Yonge near Gerrard, and around Queen St. W. and Spadina Ave.

“We want to draw awareness to these stores” and remind shoppers to support local businesses, says project leader Laura Miller, 22, a business management student who is majoring in marketing.

Miller says the idea came while walking downtown after the G20 weekend. She and her fellow students noticed most of the damaged storefronts belonged to small businesses, which lack the financial cushion of larger corporations.

The group’s mission is to help small businesses launch and thrive through a range of workshops, services and initiatives such as Protests to Profits.

So far, shoppers have responded well to the campaign, particularly around the Queen St. W. and Spadina Ave. area, she says. But it’s unclear whether the group’s efforts have brought any tangible relief.

Salimi says he hasn’t noticed a change in traffic or sales since the maps started circulating, but adds the free publicity can’t hurt.

“It’s a good idea,” he says. “If the community knows about us, maybe everyone helps us.”

Miller says her group will gauge the project’s success after it wraps up next month.

Meanwhile, she says, the volunteers have found other ways the businesses can capture the public’s attention, this time online.

“A lot of the stores don’t have websites,” a key part of attracting customers, she says. “There are a lot of opportunities out there to help small businesses grow.”