Help Spera Plumbing Replace Broken Down Van
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My Father Tony Spera has been a self-employed plumber serving the Orange County area for over 30 years. Working rain or shine, day or night and even plenty of weekends to support his family of 6. All the while never missing a single one of his son’s basketball games. All four of the Spera brothers played basketball and graduated from Calvary Chapel High School in Costa Mesa.
Tony's "Charge" whistles were a staple of Calvary Basketball games to pump up the crowds for almost a decade. And now we are trying to rally around him in his time of need. After 12 years and over 524,000 miles his old work van has blown its engine for the 2nd time.
The first time this happened was years ago when the economy was booming and he was able to take a couple weeks off while the shop rebuilt his engine and life moved on. However during the current pandemic and lockdown economy, the previous strategy is not possible.
What We’ve Tried
This time we've tried everything and exhausted all options, he is currently using my step-mom's Jeep to do his smaller jobs as a bridge but that isn't sustainable. Estimates for a new engine range between $4,000-$6,000, but then he would still be left with an outdated, constantly breaking down van with a low roof that forces him to crawl in and out to retrieve parts for his various jobs. He has dreamed of a Ford Transit High Roof Cargo Van for years. He desperately needs a van that he can build shelving on the sides and that allows him to walk in and around without straining his back. A new truck would help him be much more organized with his tools/supplies.
We've tried financing a 2017, used van with 125,000 miles on it. Because the van had over 100,000 miles he was only able to find a 36 month loan which in turn came with a skyrocketed monthly payment. This wasn't an issue in the past because my mother used to run the accounting/financial side of his business so they had excellent credit. But after she tragically passed away in a car accident in 2005, an accident that also left my youngest Brother Josh with a fractured vertebrae in his neck, my father was forced to focus on being a single-father to his 4 growing boys: 1 in college, 1 in high school, and 2 in middle school.
By the grace of God and the determined hard work ethic of my father, he was able to support us all through high school while maintaining Spera Plumbing Business without her. Thankfully my youngest brother Josh eventually made a full recovery as you can see in the above picture. But being a real-life superhero to 4 boys came with a price. Without my Mother around to run the books and handle the bills, certain things inevitably fell through the cracks. One of those was his credit which is why we've come to this point of reaching out for help.
Help We Need/How Funds Will Be Used
Ideally he needs a Ford Transit High Roof Cargo Van. This will allow him to custom build his shelving in order to stand up and walk around inside and be more organized and more efficient. This will also extend his career by taking a lot of pressure of his back and knees. Now that he turned the big 60 this year his knees/back are becoming a concern. We've been able to find some used ones for much less, but with the used vans comes higher miles, shorter loan terms and higher monthly payments. The dealership was asking for around $6,100 for a down payment and around $905/month so if we raise at least $11,530, we can give him the down payment and first 6 months of payments. Hopefully by that time we'll be able to find a better deal and need even less but we like to plan for the worst and hope for the best. That will get him back to full speed able to service his clients and continue putting food on the table for his family. It will also give me enough time to join and grow the family plumbing business for the future.
After over 30 years of doing things all by himself, with too much pride to ask for help himself, my Uncle Scott and I (Jeremy) are reaching out to his friends, family, past and current clients to get the wind back in his sails and finish this crazy year strong.
Anything you can do to share/support is greatly appreciated.
Tony's "Charge" whistles were a staple of Calvary Basketball games to pump up the crowds for almost a decade. And now we are trying to rally around him in his time of need. After 12 years and over 524,000 miles his old work van has blown its engine for the 2nd time.
The first time this happened was years ago when the economy was booming and he was able to take a couple weeks off while the shop rebuilt his engine and life moved on. However during the current pandemic and lockdown economy, the previous strategy is not possible.
What We’ve Tried
This time we've tried everything and exhausted all options, he is currently using my step-mom's Jeep to do his smaller jobs as a bridge but that isn't sustainable. Estimates for a new engine range between $4,000-$6,000, but then he would still be left with an outdated, constantly breaking down van with a low roof that forces him to crawl in and out to retrieve parts for his various jobs. He has dreamed of a Ford Transit High Roof Cargo Van for years. He desperately needs a van that he can build shelving on the sides and that allows him to walk in and around without straining his back. A new truck would help him be much more organized with his tools/supplies.
We've tried financing a 2017, used van with 125,000 miles on it. Because the van had over 100,000 miles he was only able to find a 36 month loan which in turn came with a skyrocketed monthly payment. This wasn't an issue in the past because my mother used to run the accounting/financial side of his business so they had excellent credit. But after she tragically passed away in a car accident in 2005, an accident that also left my youngest Brother Josh with a fractured vertebrae in his neck, my father was forced to focus on being a single-father to his 4 growing boys: 1 in college, 1 in high school, and 2 in middle school.
By the grace of God and the determined hard work ethic of my father, he was able to support us all through high school while maintaining Spera Plumbing Business without her. Thankfully my youngest brother Josh eventually made a full recovery as you can see in the above picture. But being a real-life superhero to 4 boys came with a price. Without my Mother around to run the books and handle the bills, certain things inevitably fell through the cracks. One of those was his credit which is why we've come to this point of reaching out for help.
Help We Need/How Funds Will Be Used
Ideally he needs a Ford Transit High Roof Cargo Van. This will allow him to custom build his shelving in order to stand up and walk around inside and be more organized and more efficient. This will also extend his career by taking a lot of pressure of his back and knees. Now that he turned the big 60 this year his knees/back are becoming a concern. We've been able to find some used ones for much less, but with the used vans comes higher miles, shorter loan terms and higher monthly payments. The dealership was asking for around $6,100 for a down payment and around $905/month so if we raise at least $11,530, we can give him the down payment and first 6 months of payments. Hopefully by that time we'll be able to find a better deal and need even less but we like to plan for the worst and hope for the best. That will get him back to full speed able to service his clients and continue putting food on the table for his family. It will also give me enough time to join and grow the family plumbing business for the future.
After over 30 years of doing things all by himself, with too much pride to ask for help himself, my Uncle Scott and I (Jeremy) are reaching out to his friends, family, past and current clients to get the wind back in his sails and finish this crazy year strong.
Anything you can do to share/support is greatly appreciated.
Organizer
Jeremy Spera
Organizer
Fountain Valley, CA
