A tool drive to help installers in the wake of Tropical Storm Harvey has been launched by Shawn Simpson of Momentum Marketing in North Dallas.
Car audio installers rely on their tools but few if any can afford to insure them. Over the next few days, installers will be returning to their shops to find their electrical tools destroyed. Many installers live pay check to pay check and are sure to be financially burdened with no tools to help them in their trade. So Simpson is accepting donations to help installers in the area hit by Harvey including Houston, Beaumont, Corpus Christi and Victoria, Texas.
“I had my own shop and none of my employees could afford to insure their tools. And when shop owners get reimbursed they are not going to reimburse these guys….We can clean off a metal tool but they can’t get electrical tools working again,” Simpson said.
He is organizing a used tool drive and he is also accepting gift cards (but no cash donations). Tools needed include drills, test meters, soldering irons, used laptops, drill batteries, flash lights, tone generators, scanners, OBD readers. He’s also accepting tools for home audio installers.
“So far over 7 of my dealers that I’ve been able to get in touch with have taken on water over 4 feet. I haven’t yet been able to get in touch with over a dozen other dealers,” he said Thursday morning.
Simpson will post a weekly list of all donations on 12 volt social media sites including Facebook groups 12vInsiders and Educar Integration & Acoustics. He will list the shops rather than the individual installers receiving those donations to avoid personal embarrassment. But again, donations will go to installers rather than shop owners.
Harvey has been a catastrophic event. We fear that some in our industry will have lost everything. Thank you Shawn for stepping up to help!
He can be reached at [email protected]
Photo: Cartronix
