Florida Business Owner Covers Utility Bills For 114 Families

A business owner in Florida is being recognized for paying the utility bills of 114 families.

Michael Esmond started his generous efforts last year when he paid the utility bills for 36 households in the city of Gulf Breeze, which totaled $4,600. This year, he decided that he wanted to help out even more families considering the current pandemic and Hurricane Sally, which devastated parts of Florida in September.

“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,” Esmond explained to CNN.

With this in mind, Esmond dished out $7,615.40 to cover the past-due expenses of 114 households, Joanne Oliver, the city’s utility billing supervisor, confirmed. Residents who received the kind boost will be mailed holiday cards, notifying them that their utility bills were paid in full.

“That really impacted me — that people can’t even afford to pay a $100 bill on their utilities and things are so bad,” Esmond explained. “That’s why I was able to pay for 114 families.”

The 74-year-old is the owner of Gulf Breeze Pools and Spas and knows what it feels like to have his utilities disconnected for nonpayment in the past, and considering his business’s success, he was moved to help his fellow residents.

“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. He later added, “I can relate to people suffering and not being able to pay bills. That’s probably one of the biggest motivators for me because I’ve been there.”

Oliver praised Esmond for his immense generosity during the country’s tough times.

“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. She also confirmed that the city of Gulf Breeze was not cutting citizens’ utilities off until they were more than 60 days past due.

All accounts that Esmond covered were more than 30 days overdue and had a COVID-19 deferral.