Asking help so Tom can resume his work as plumber

An update (May 21) about Tom's situation. As many of you know from having read the first request for financial help for Tom Petersen, a self-employed plumber for nearly fifty years, he was the victim of theft on April 14, in broad daylight, of his locked work van and all his specialized plumbing tools, which were worth several thousand dollars. Those tools previously enabled him to accept most types of plumbing and HVAC work for businesses or homeowners.

Now, over a month later, the van is still not recovered by the police, and Tom's insurance company is going to send him some money for the van, which will help him make a downpayment on a replacement van. He will also use *some* of the money that has been donated so far by generous contributors. This theft had an immediate impact on Tom's life, in that he has been unable to accept most plumbing jobs, since he has no tools, nor enough funds to replace the ones that were stolen. He only recently used some donated money to buy a couple of tools, to do a fairly ordinary household plumbing job. (Again, thank you, friends).

We started this GoFundMe page to help Tom raise funds for replacement tools and to finance a replacement van. Once he can do this, he will once again be able to sustain his livelihood. It is highly unlikely that any stolen tools will ever be recovered. (Contractors, plumbers, and other tradespeople are frequent victims of vehicle and tool theft in the Bay Area, and there is a hot market for stolen tools.)

If you can donate any amount to help raise Twenty Thousand dollars ($20,000) to aid Tom, so he can replace his plumbing tools and his work van, he will be extremely appreciative.

You may make your donation anonymously if you wish. Feel free to forward a link to this campaign to a friend by email.

Thank you for your generosity.