Veteran Pays Off 114 Outstanding Utility Bills for Struggling Neighbors Ahead of Christmas
For the second holiday season in a row, a Vietnam veteran of Gulf Breeze, Florida, has extended a huge gesture of kindness to his community by paying off $7,600 worth of past due utility bills to ease the burden for local families ahead of Christmas.
Mike Esmond is a 74-year-old great-grandfather who runs Gulf Breeze Pools & Spas. His generosity ignited with one of the incidents from his past, as he himself once had his gas shut off while struggling financially in 1983, along with raising three young daughters. At that time, the loss of power was quite devastating.
Florida man pays off 114 outstanding utility bills for his neighbors before Christmas By Caitlin O Kane Man pays neighbors utility bills
Mike Esmond, a great-grandfather and business owner from Gulf Breeze, Florida, is like a guardian angel for his neighbors. Esmond recently paid off the outstanding utility bills for 114 families in his community, totaling $7,600.
He made a similar gift last year, when he paid off 36 bills worth $4,600. This year, however, Esmond felt the gift was more necessary than ever. When we had Hurricane Sally, that did a lot of damage to a lot of residents here, Esmond told CBS News. And the pandemic, I know, has a lot of people out of work. they ve closed up, they ve laid people off. So this year, I felt like I really needed to do something.