Mr. Esmond Paid Off The Dues Of 36 Families During The 2019 Holiday Season

The holiday season can be super stressful but not when you have a generous neighbor like Michael Esmond. This Floridan owns a company that does pool installations and he has paid the electricity bills of 36 grateful families who would have otherwise lost power. On receiving his utility bill during the festive season, Mr. Esmond decided to “take a little bit of stress out” for his neighbors too. 

He got in touch with the city officials of Gulf Breeze where he resides and found out how he could pay others’ overdue bills. What inspired this act of kindness? His own memory from years ago of an unheated holiday.

He noticed that the due date was December 26 when went to pay his water and gas bill. If the dues were not cleared, the power supply would be cut. The 73-year-old man recalled, “This actually happened to me back in the 80s.” Mr. Esmond remembers struggling with the festive season expenses in the coldest winter recorded in Pensacola. “We actually had the gas shut off the whole entire winter,” he said.

Gulf Breeze’s utility billing supervisor, Joanne Oliver, was in tears when she first heard the idea. “For someone like him, a veteran to come in and do some grand gesture. It was heartfelt for me,” she said. Mr. Esmond paid $4,600 to help over 30 families who received cards instead of the warning letters. “It is our honor and privilege to inform you that your past due utility bill has been paid by Gulf Breeze Pools & Spas. You can rest earlier this holiday season knowing you have one less bill to pay. On behalf of Gulf Breeze Pools & Spas we here at the City of Gulf Breeze would like to wish you and your family a happy holiday season” read the card. 

“People say ‘are you going to do this again next year’, and my reply to them is, if people knew I was going to do this nobody would pay their bill. They’d all wait for me to pay it” joked Mr. Esmond. He plans on doing something different this year, starting a chain of kind acts.

The holiday season can be super stressful but not when you have a generous neighbor like Michael Esmond. This Floridan owns a company that does pool installations and he has paid the electricity bills of 36 grateful families who would have otherwise lost power. On receiving his utility bill during the festive season, Mr. Esmond…