Ooh La La Mobile Pet Spa - Emergency Fundraiser

Hello, our names are Christopher & Heather. We run a local mobile dog grooming business in Rhode Island, called Ooh La La Mobile Pet Spa.

We started our business in 2018. We wanted to offer fair rates with the convenience and 1 on 1 service we provide.

We come to our client's homes, or work places with a clean, sanitized, convenient grooming van; cage free, stress free, no contact with other dogs, fully powered with hot water, heat & ac.

We are raising funds to repair our Mobile Grooming Van that has been diagnosed with a cracked head gasket. We have had multiple shops in Rhode Island give us estimates ranging from $8,000-$10,000.

This past year has been very hard on our business and personal lives putting us in a hardship financially, with our business and living expenses.

We have been out of work now in total close to 3 months due to mechanical failure with our van. Having to wait for mechanics that could diagnose the problem, and waiting for parts to arrive that were low in supply.

At the beginning of the year, we moved Heather's parents into our home. So we could help them retire in this increasingly hard economy and they would be able to assist us as well.

Around the end of March, our 2018 Mercedes Sprinter had a big issue, when a cold winter day came through. Our entire cooling system on the engine became a block of ice, blew up and shattered.

At this time, Mercedes covered replacing the cooling system and testing the engine and head gaskets for any damage. This took in total about 3 weeks.

We had trouble shooted the issue weeks later of why our cooling system froze. It was due to the mobile grooming conversion, which gives us hot water, using a water heater exchange. The device cracked and malfunctioned which is very rare to happen but was dripping water into the cooling system of the engine causing it to freeze on that winter day.

The van once again was fixed and running perfect. We go back to the work grind, two weeks go by and we get rear ended by a Peltier truck when merging onto 95 N.

Thankfully the van back doors took the majority of the damage. It took us down business wise for an additional 6 weeks to get everything repaired.

Heather's parents, thank the heavens for them, assisted us with our expenses while we were unable to work.

We worked hard throughout the summer trying to catch up financially.

Going into the fall, as the weather got cold, our van's coolant sensor was set off. Opening the hood, the coolant reservoir was full of oil.

We went to multiple mechanic shops, getting several opinions, and they all came to the same conclusion. There was pressure that was combusting in the head gaskets, causing oil to come through the cooling system.

They all estimated the repair to be in the $8,000-$10,000 dollar area. Our brakes and tires also need to be replaced, to deal with the winter conditions.

The head gasket is a large job taking about 40 hours in total. The entire engine is dropped and basically stripped apart. Then fixed and put back together with all new hoses, seals, etc.

We are asking for help to pay for this repair so we don't lose our business, our livelihood. If we aren't able to sustain our business we will face the risk of losing our home as well.

We are currently still able to use the van currently and working as much as possible. Trying to catch up with our expenses and save what we are able to for the repair.

The more we do work though, the more risk we take on the head gaskets completely blowing, causing more damage and financial hardship with the entire engine needing to be fixed or replaced.

We are trying to arrange to get the Van fixed as soon as we have the funds available. The job itself is estimated to take 1-2 weeks, which is going to take a toll on us again financially.

This is all really hard for us to do. We have both always worked since we were very young. We were able to purchase our first house young,on our own, as well as start this business.

Asking for anything is extremely hard for us to do.

However this time,it's needed.

Please donate, to help us continue on with our small business, grooming local dogs throughout Rhode Island. You will be helping, to sustain our family from going through unexpected hardship, that we would face, if the business is lost.

We want to succeed, expand, and thrive in Rhode Island one day. Hopefully having multiple vans, with patient, loving, professional, and passionate, groomers! Giving a wonderful 1 on 1 service to more pups in need.

Thank you all in advance for helping us! We hope to get our van fixed as soon as possible. So we can continue doing what we love.Taking care of your loving pups, and their grooming needs.

Our Sincere Gratitude,

Christopher & Heather

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