BENTON HARBOR, Mich. (WNDU) – Let’s take a look at what’s good here in Michiana.
How about this Benton Harbor business that’s making sure their neighbors don’t go cold this holiday season with a heartwarming giveaway?
Boss Services gives out free furnaces every holiday season to people that need them the most in their community.
16 News Now followed them on Friday as they surprised one of their winners, whose winter is about to get a lot warmer.
Samantha Pendergrass and her 12-year-old son dealt with enough loss this year, and the last thing she needs to worry about is losing her heat.
“Covid-19 hit our family really hard. We lost three members of our family in 3-4 weeks. So, it got really tough and I’m a go-getter type of person so when things start to fall apart around the house, I do try to fix those things,” said new furnace recipient Samantha Pendergrass.
One of those fixes is the 30-year-old furnace in her basement that stopped working right before the coldest part of the year.
When Boss Services heard her story, they stepped up so Pendergrass doesn’t have to go through this fix alone.
“She’s working nonstop and trying to save and just struggling, so she needs a little bit of a break,” said Boss Services Co-Owner Jeff Street.
If Boss hadn’t selected Pendergrass as one of the two winners in their Heartwarming Holiday Giveaway, the only break she could have gotten would have been in her bank account.
“What used to be a $3,000-$4,000 job, is now a $4,000-$8,000, sometimes even a $10,000 job. Depending on the furnace, size, efficiency, and all that,” Street said.
“What a lot of people don’t know is that they literally came to fix my furnace the first time and it was a week after my stepdad had passed away. That interaction ended and two days later they sent me flowers. They didn’t have to do that. No one requested that. They just did it on their own. So, that’s the little gesture. Something like this is huge. This is life-changing for a family,” Pendergrass said.
Boss will be back to make sure Pendergrass’ heater is installed in time for Christmas.
More than 300 people were nominated for the Heartwarming Holiday Giveaway, which has been going on since 2016.
Even though this happens every year, it’s fair to call this a Christmas Miracle.
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