Woman calls to get estimate on water heater, gets huge surprise

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — What started as a mission to get the best price for a water heater turned into much, much more.

Pat Daves and her grandson were living in a house with no hot water for nearly a week. With just days before the holiday, Daves picked up the phone to get an estimate on a new water heater.

“So I called and Joyce answered,” Daves said. “And so I told her what I needed ya know, and I told her I was on a fixed income and I was needing to find out some idea of how much it was going to cost.”

Turns out she called the right place and that water heater she desperately needed was not going to cost her a thing thanks to plumbing company Michael and Son.

“Just a great feeling all around that you’re helping and it’s not for a cause of for really for a purpose except than to help the person that’s in need,” Michael & Son General Manager Glenn Breton said.

That person in need was Daves who has had a rough year and lives on disability.

“And the people just don’t know how much I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart,” Daves said. “If I could ever do anything for them, I’d be glad to.”

Plumber Tony Goodwin will do anything for others even volunteering his own time to install the new water heater.

“It makes you feel good at the end of the day knowing that you’ve helped somebody that otherwise she wouldn’t have hot water for Thanksgiving,” Goodwin said. “So it definitely helps her out.”

It makes his boss proud to have men like tony on his team.

“Very proud that I’ve got such a great team that I could turn around and ya know, feel very confident in,” Breton said. “And know that they’re going to take care of our customers and they want to do it throughout their own heart. So it’s not just something that we pride through them, it’s what they’re made out of.”

It is an example of good people giving back.

“That’s what Thanksgiving is all about, giving,” Daves said.

Today’s donation was made possible by Michael and Son’s Helping Hands Program. It is a program designed to help people like Daves and others across the city get the assistance they need.