A business owner from Florida helped 114 families by paying off their overdue utilities bills, saving them from losing service.
This is the second year Michael Esmond gave back to his community, as he had experienced similar circumstances back in 1983.
“This year to me probably is more meaningful than last year with the pandemic and all the people out of work having to stay home,” the 74-year-old owner of the Gulf Breeze Pools and Spas explained.
“Hurricane Sally slammed us pretty good and hurt a lot of people. We still have a lot of the blue roofs here, where they’re just covered with tarps.”
“People can’t afford to pay their bills and put food on the table, so I hope doing my part and paying some bills for these folks takes a little bit of stress off of them around Christmas time,” he added.
According to Joanne Oliver, the city’s utility billing supervisor, Esmond donated $7,615.40 to pay for the past-due bills.
“Even though our country and our city is currently going through probably the most difficult years of some of our lifetimes, there are still people out there who are generous and kind and really do want to help others,” Oliver said.
“To have others within the community wanting to reach out and help their neighbors, now is more important than ever.”
Residents who received Esmond’s generosity will be receiving a holiday card to notify them of their good fortune.
Unlike in 2019 when Esmond paid nearly $4,600 in gas and water bills for 36 Gulf Breeze families, he was able to help about three times as many households this year, as many residents had bills due of $100 or less.
“That really impacted me — that people can’t even afford to pay a $100 bill on their utilities and things are so bad,” Esmond shared.
Ironically, his business did good in 2020 – something that he is “almost ashamed” to share.
“We’ve had a good year, and that’s why I want to share what I have with the people who need it,” he said.