Please watch this video for full details: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIkWQuKxX1c

We have a bit of a family emergency.

Short Version: Watch my video, please. I need to raise funds for auto repairs on my Ford E-150 van that I use both as a daily driver, and to make deliveries long distance. The issues are building up, and there's a dramatic loss of performance from misfires, and a cluster of related issues that make the vehicle uncomfortable for my daughter to ride in, like AC issues out here in the triple digit desert heat.

☆☆Longer Version:

I'm Dan, creator of AWESOME Hot Sauce, a line of artisan, gourmet hot sauces I have been handcrafting for the past 13 years. I built an occupation for myself from nothing starting in San Diego farmers markets. In 2015 I was offered a once-in-a-lifetime spot in Old Town SD's Fiesta de Reyes section, alongside the other 18 small businesses, to operate my own storefront. Exactly 1 year from the day we first opened our doors, my daughter was born. I saw it as a sign that this was meant to be and that was doing what was intended. Being a Dad gave me purpose like nothing else I ever experienced.

My store grew every year and I was able to provide well for my little family. 2020, the 1st pivot in our timeline is shared with far to many other small family businesses across the country and beyond. Learning my story helps to understand the devastating impact of that event, and the ripple effect that continues to the present day. Tourism never truly recovered from its pre-2020 era. After holding on for 2 more years, the law of diminishing returns and some foresight on my part brought me to hand over the keys to the new tenant after 7 years of being the hot sauce store of San Diego and beyond. I thought I would be able to pass the business to my daughter someday. I certainly felt robbed of a permanence I had worked very hard to ensure.

For the past 4 years, after an epic run of a total of 9 years where everything was relatively good, we have become reliant upon a single wholesale order from the same store now with a new tenant. He and I became friends. That monthly order keeps us in the home we easily afforded in better times prior.

Things have been so tight this past year with increasing severity each passing month that I have not been able to afford the much needed maintenance on the van I use to deliver that order 3 hours away to San Diego. The van has now gotten past the point of discomfort to being mechanically incapable of making that trek again without repairs. There's a collection of problems resulting in power loss, reduced fuel efficiency, and it labors to get through the long stretches of mountainous road on the way to our old store. I've made that trip hundreds of times and it's clear the van isn't up to doing it anymore.

The purpose of this GoFundMe is to raise the funds needed to fix Van: the misfires, the malfunctions, and tune up my van, to get more life out of it. I have to continue to make these deliveries. They have been coming to us less frequently as well because commerce and public habits have been trending downward since that event we all felt 6 years ago. It's hard to believe it's been that long. The augmentations and restrictions carried on long after. We all seem to have shell shock, and I empathize.

Please donate if you can, and share this campaign with others. I haven't had to launch a GoFundMe since 2020 when we were forced to close for months. I greatly appreciate you watching my video. Another way to help is to visit https://SemperfryLLC.com where you can get our award winning sauces. More details on that are also in the video I created for this campaign.