HELP US SAVE OUR FAMILY BUSINESS — ONE BRICK AT A TIME

$125,000 Recovery & Rebuilding Goal

Anything we raise brings us one step closer.

There comes a time when pride has to take a back seat to family, survival, and asking your community for a helping hand.

For our family, that time is now.

We are asking for help saving a small family business that we have fought desperately to keep alive.

WE SURVIVED COVID — BUT WE NEVER FULLY RECOVERED

Before COVID, our business supported three employees.

We had machinery, welders, pipe benders, tools, equipment and inventory that took years of hard work to acquire.

When COVID changed everything, we made a decision:

We weren't going to quit.

As money became tight, we began selling the very equipment we depended upon to make a living.

We sold welders.

We sold pipe benders.

We sold machinery and tools.

Not because we wanted to get out of business, but because we were desperately trying to stay in business.

The money helped us pay rent, keep inventory available for our customers, pay bills and keep our doors open.

Little by little, however, equipment that had taken years to acquire disappeared just so we could survive another month.

Eventually, there wasn't much left to sell.

A business that once supported three employees has now been reduced to essentially one person — me.

And I'm still here.

Still opening the doors.

Still answering the phone.

Still helping customers.

Still working.

Still fighting.

MY 18-YEAR-OLD SON IS FIGHTING BESIDE ME

My 18-year-old son spends his weekends and free time helping me keep our family business going.

As a father, that means more to me than I can put into words.

I want him to learn something from everything we're experiencing:

When things get hard, we don't simply give up.

We work.

We stand together.

We fight for what our family has built.

And when we have done everything we can ourselves, there is no shame in asking our neighbors and our community for a helping hand.

I don't want my son to remember this as the year we lost our family business.

I want him to remember it as the year we fought for it — and our community fought alongside us.

OUR FAMILY HAS FACED CHALLENGES TOO

Life didn't stop while we were fighting to keep the business alive.

I recently underwent dental surgery without insurance, creating another financial burden during an already difficult period.

Now I am also worried about my sons potentially losing their insurance coverage.

Meanwhile, our business has fallen behind on rent and other obligations.

Our landlord has been very reasonable about our circumstances and has continued working with us toward getting current.

For that kindness and patience, we are extremely grateful.

It means we still have something incredibly important:

A chance.

A chance to get current.

A chance to rebuild.

A chance to keep these doors open.

We just need some help getting back on our feet.

WHY WE ARE ASKING FOR $125,000

We know $125,000 is a tremendous amount of money.

It is our recovery and rebuilding goal — not an all-or-nothing number.

Anything close to that amount would be an incredible blessing to our family and business.

We also want people considering helping us to understand where that money would go.

Approximately $25,000 — PAST-DUE RENT

This would help us address approximately $25,000 in back rent and protect the place our business calls home.

Approximately $35,000 — TOOLS & MACHINERY

This would help replace essential machinery, welders, pipe-bending equipment and tools that we were forced to sell while trying to survive.

Approximately $20,000 — BILLS & FAMILY LOANS

This would help address outstanding business obligations and repay family members who stepped forward and loaned us money when the business was struggling.

Approximately $20,000 — INVENTORY

A healthy inventory is essential to serving our customers. This would allow us to replenish parts, materials and supplies instead of constantly trying to operate with limited stock.

Approximately $25,000 — STABILIZATION & TRANSPORTATION

The remaining funds would help stabilize the business, including shop insurance and other operating necessities, replacing the continuing expense of bottled water with a proper water cooler, repairs to our shop Ford Focus, and, if funds permit, purchasing a dependable used work truck.

These amounts represent our current recovery plan. Circumstances can change, so funds will be directed toward the most urgent legitimate needs of keeping the business operating and rebuilding.

The purpose remains the same:

GET CURRENT.

RESTOCK.

REBUILD.

KEEP OUR DOORS OPEN.

And get back to doing what we know how to do:

WORK.

MORE THAN A BUSINESS — A SAFE PLACE IN OUR COMMUNITY

There is another reason these doors mean so much to us.

Over the years, people around our neighborhood have come to know our building as somewhere they can come if they feel frightened, threatened or simply need a safe place for a moment.

Our doors stay open.

We have cameras outside.

Our shop phone forwards directly to my cell phone so calls can reach me even when I'm away.

We look out for our neighbors and participate in watching out for our community.

We aren't police officers, firefighters or an emergency service.

We're simply a family business that believes neighbors should look out for neighbors.

If someone comes through our doors frightened and asking for help, we aren't going to turn them away.

Sometimes being part of a community is as simple as opening your door to another human being.

This is the kind of business — and the kind of neighborhood — we want to preserve.

🧱 OUR COMMUNITY WALL

There is something very important I want to do for the people who stand beside us.

If our community helps hold this business together, I want that support permanently remembered inside our shop.

With each donor's permission, I will personally write their name on a brick on our Community Wall.

Not their donation amount.

Their name.

Because whether someone contributes $5 or $5,000, that person became one of the bricks that helped hold our business together when we needed it most.

I want that wall to remain for as long as this business remains.

Someday, I want my son and our family to stand in front of it and remember exactly how we survived this chapter.

And I want that wall to tell everyone who walks through these doors:

WE THE PEOPLE CAME.

WE THE PEOPLE HELPED.

WE THE PEOPLE STOOD TOGETHER.

WE ARE THE PEOPLE.

Different backgrounds.

Different beliefs.

Different neighborhoods.

Different circumstances.

Yet still capable of extending a hand to another human being.

Love and compassion can overcome the things that divide our world.

IF YOU HELP US, PLEASE COME SEE US

Whenever possible, I intend to personally thank the people who support our family.

With your permission, I would also be honored to recognize and thank you through our social media.

And if you're ever near our shop, please stop in.

Come see the business you helped keep alive.

Come see your name on our Community Wall.

Sit down.

Have a cup of coffee with our family.

And give me the opportunity to look you in the eye, offer you a hearty handshake and personally say:

THANK YOU.

Thank you for helping our family.

Thank you for helping our business.

Thank you for believing we're still worth fighting for.

And thank you for reminding my son and me that people still care about one another.

YOU DON'T NEED TO GIVE $100 TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

$5 helps.

$10 helps.

$25 helps.

$50 helps.

Every dollar helps.

And if you're going through difficult times yourself and simply cannot contribute financially:

PLEASE SHARE OUR STORY.

Sharing costs nothing.

Your share might reach the person who helps us purchase another welder.

It might help put inventory back on an empty shelf.

It might pay another portion of the rent.

It might help repair our work vehicle.

Or it might simply give us another opportunity to keep fighting.We applied for the COVID relief fund but got denied.

We aren't asking one person to save us.

We're asking a community to stand beside us while we save ourselves through hard work.

If we raise $10,000, we will put it to work.

If we raise $50,000, we will put it to work.

If we come close to our $125,000 goal, we will be incredibly grateful.

And if we're blessed enough to reach the entire goal, our family will have an opportunity to rebuild this business on solid ground.

After everything we've been through, we're not ready to quit.

We still believe in this business.

We still believe in our family.

We still believe in our community.

We still believe in our country.

And most importantly:

WE STILL BELIEVE IN PEOPLE.

ONE FAMILY.

ONE BUSINESS.

ONE COMMUNITY.

ONE BRICK AT A TIME.

Please help us keep our doors open.

From our family to yours,

Thank you for your contribution, your prayers, your encouragement, or simply for sharing our story.

GOD BLESS YOU.

🇺🇸 GOD BLESS AMERICA. 🇺🇸