AHWATUKEE, AZ — A group of tradesmen stepped up to help a Valley senior who had been living without air conditioning for nearly a year.
Gwen Aloia says the four-ton unit on her Ahwatukee home went out just as we headed into record-breaking heat last July.
Due to living on a fixed income, replacing the unit just wasn’t possible.
But her hero would soon arrive in the form of Michael Neal with Eco Logic pest control, who was called out to do a termite inspection.
“It was the first hot day of the year and she said gosh I’m not looking forward to summer, my A/C went out last July, and you see my tagline on my shirt, it says is something bugging you and it bugged me for the rest of the day,” said Neal.
So, Neal decided to use his contacts within the business community to make sure it either got fixed or replaced before the summer heat moved in again. His first call was to Nate Dowell with AZTech Mechanical.
“It was heartbreaking to hear,” said Dowell. “So we reached out to our sheet metal guys from Curbs and Ducts AZ, our distributors from A/C Pro.”
Soon enough, they had a brand-new unit onsite to install free of charge. Smiley Crane joined in on the giving as they hoisted to the roof Thursday.
“A bunch of people in the community donated money, donated time, donated product to make this happen, it’s an awesome thing to see a community come together,” said Dowell.
“I’m speechless, I’m just really speechless that someone would reach out and help, people who didn’t even know me,” said Aloia. “I’m so grateful.”
Watch the full story of these local businesses stepping in to help a woman in need in the player above.