Automotive Repair News Today

Braxton Critcher [00:00:00]:
This episode of good News and automotive repair is sponsored by Autofix Auto shop coaching. I haven't met, I don't think, except for Elijah, either one of you. So, Elijah, why don't you introduce me to your, to your. You said three amigos. You called him yesterday.

Braxton Critcher [00:00:31]:
Is that what you said?

Braxton Critcher [00:00:32]:
Amigos or the three stooges? I can't remember.

Elijah McMillan [00:00:36]:
I think it was the amigos. I think cool. Who came up with that term, but yeah, it was my friend. The kind of like, I guess I would call my shop owner cool goop, if I can. If I can call it that. And cool. Rosima is the owner of Rosama's car here. I met him through his technician, which is Andrew.

Elijah McMillan [00:00:54]:
He's very shy, and you wouldn't think he'd be good at networking people, but he. I was just, I'm super glad that he introduced me to his boss because it's just been a, just, I've learned so much from him. And then Eric is the owner of merchant Automotive. He's kind of like a house brand, really, nationwide known and, hey, sorry to.

Braxton Critcher [00:01:16]:
Cut in here, but I just had to tell you real quick. I want to say thanks to our sponsor, Chris Cotton, autofix Auto shop coaching. And this episode is all about, of course, the good news happening in the automotive industry. But I really believe that what Chris Cotton is doing is also good news to help your repair shop, your technicians, understand what they don't know. Because if you're a new owner, you walk into shop ownership, and there are so many things that you're faced with that you never expected would happen. And Chris Cotton has been there. He's a former shop owner, and his passion is to help move this industry forward, highlight the good stories and help your repair shop figure out the things that you don't know. And so if you have questions about Chris Cotton, reach out in the comment section.

Braxton Critcher [00:02:06]:
You can also find a link to his site in the show notes of the podcast, or check him out online at his website, search him up. Find him on Facebook and social media, too. That's autofix auto shop coaching and Chris Cotton.

Elijah McMillan [00:02:21]:
I've had a lot of fun getting to know him and going to the racetrack, watching races. Now I get to watch him race, so that's going to be cool. And. But more than that, we have a group chat where I can just ask questions and event, and they probably look like an idiot on there, but I feel pretty safe, too, because I think they both want me to succeed. So it's sweet. Yeah.

Braxton Critcher [00:02:45]:
Everybody got to have a place to vent, especially in automotive.

Kory Rozema [00:02:51]:
Yeah.

Eric Merchant [00:02:52]:
Yeah.

Braxton Critcher [00:02:54]:
Cool. So you guys are all in Michigan?

Eric Merchant [00:02:57]:
Yep.

Kory Rozema [00:02:58]:
Yeah, I'm in Hudsonville. Eric is in Zealand, and Elijah's up in Stanwood, canadian lake.

Braxton Critcher [00:03:06]:
So out in the boonies?

Elijah McMillan [00:03:08]:
Yep, yep.

Eric Merchant [00:03:09]:
Past the boonies.

Braxton Critcher [00:03:11]:
Yeah, you have to over the river, through the woods, past the boonies and.

Eric Merchant [00:03:16]:
There'S Elijah past grandma's house.

Braxton Critcher [00:03:20]:
Then you're out there at Elijah. So, you know, obviously a lot has happened. I'm in the Asheville area and, you know, it's pretty crazy and surreal and weird and Sadeena, all the things, you know, the roads that we've been traveling, my wife and I are. It's so funny. It seems like nothing's happened on some of the main roads. They've done a really good job at clearing the interstates and things like that. But you get off the interstates, you go into the regular streets or some of the back roads. It's.

Braxton Critcher [00:04:04]:
I mean, there's. There's some. Some devastation that I've only seen on the news before and this is where I live. It's really a surreal feeling. But you guys started, I guess, a few days after the storm. You. You fill me in because I. I don't know much of the story, but from.

Braxton Critcher [00:04:28]:
From what I've heard is you guys are just packing up supplies and trying to help out people as you can. So kind of.

Eric Merchant [00:04:36]:
How did all that start? The whole thing kind of started shortly after Asta. Excuse me. While we were down there is when the storm hit, of course, in Raleigh. In Raleigh, there was some concern about it, but it ended up being just some rain over there.

Braxton Critcher [00:04:53]:
Yeah.

Eric Merchant [00:04:53]:
And there was a lot of stories of the devastation that was happening west of there. People that were at the show, their. Their homes and businesses were being affected while they were gone. And then, you know, as the news kind of unrolled more of that stuff. It's just like, wow, this. The extent is just unimaginable. And during the closing, I don't know, closing dinner for Asta, there was a ton of support from the vendors that were at ASta donating items. There was an impromptu auction that was held to raise money to support, you know, other members of AStA.

Eric Merchant [00:05:40]:
And that was very impactful, just watching people step up and just raising money just to help. So when we got back, I thought, man, you know, there's got to be more we can do. And I thought, let's just put a drive together. And I think I kind of mentioned it to those guys and it just kind of took off and started rolling. And we made some social media posts and some of my team had reached out to local news agencies and I, other groups on Facebook, community organizations, and it is just kind of picking up steam now. So I'm gonna stop talking to those guys and get in.

Kory Rozema [00:06:25]:
Yeah. So half my staff was down there. And when they came back the following Monday, you know, a lot of the, I heard from them a lot of the same things that Eric had said. I wasn't there. So I'm hearing it all secondhand, but watching it on the news, and they're just like, we have to do something. And as they're saying that, I'm seeing this stuff from Eric about, hey, I'm going to do this drive and we're going to collect stuff. And, you know, so our, our staff just quick started throwing stuff together. And Eric is gracious enough to kind of be the hub for all of us.

Kory Rozema [00:07:04]:
Like, he sent people. We filled up my front room, I think, four times so far. They've made, you know, four or five trips from my place to his place. We're only 1520 minutes apart, but Eric's collection area is probably the size of, like, my whole shop. And from what I've seen, it's, I mean, it's jammed. And speaking with a couple people that work for hemis, they're like, it gets borderline overwhelming because of how much support that they've gotten from that. Yeah, from the local community, local shops. Yesterday, I had another shop drop off a truckload of stuff.

Kory Rozema [00:07:44]:
And, yeah, I mean, I'm really grateful for all of it. And I feel like it's still not enough.

Braxton Critcher [00:07:55]:
Yeah. The thing that I've heard and, you know, I've been around and I, and seen some of the people that are passing out supplies. And again, I'm in Asheville, and, you know, just for clarification, my wife and I, we didn't have any damage to where we live. We had two trees fall on a car parked next to my wife. So we were close, but no actual damage to things that we own. We live on the second floor of a condo complex, but we didn't have power for nine days. And they're saying water is not going to be back for, like, at least two more weeks. And that could be, I think that could be kind of optimistic because they're having to rebuild part of the water system.

Braxton Critcher [00:08:47]:
Some of the water mains were just totally exposed. Some were ripped up and destroyed. So it's going to be a journey, but from what kind of. To your point, when I've talked to folks who are handing out stuff, I've stopped by and talked to a few groups and a lot of the resources are coming to Asheville. And I think a lot of the publicity and the news coverage is on Asheville. And I think that's because it's just the largest area that got hit. But, you know, the storm was very vast. I mean, there's.

Braxton Critcher [00:09:30]:
I've seen pictures of Augusta, Georgia, of course, East Tennessee, upstate South Carolina, and then a good portion of western North Carolina. And so kind of a lot of the press has been on Asheville. But, Eric, you were telling me you're hoping to go to spruce Pine. And a lot of the communities that are outside of Asheville aren't getting as many resources. And so I think Asheville has. There's been a couple places, they're like, we keep getting donations and we actually have more than we need to give out. And so I think your guys hope of finding an area, a smaller community that, that needs the help. There's less people there, but there's also.

Braxton Critcher [00:10:16]:
They're getting less resources. I think it's probably because of some of the press, the coverage on the area, but also it's harder to get to those areas. They're starting to open up a little bit more now, but I think that's good that you guys are trying to go to spruce pine and some other small areas with the supplies that you have.

Eric Merchant [00:10:34]:
My aunt is in. I'm sorry.

Braxton Critcher [00:10:37]:
Yeah, go ahead.

Eric Merchant [00:10:38]:
Except my aunt is in Hendersonville, and she's been keeping me in the loop on some of the local needs and that type of thing. And they have actually, as of last night, and I'm sure other communities, probably the same, have stopped taking things. They just physically are no longer taking tangible items. And I'm sure Asheville's like that, some of the bigger areas because they just got nowhere to go with it, which is. Which is a weird thing. But at the same time, I. I know what our buildings look like when we're taking collections. I can't imagine with.

Eric Merchant [00:11:12]:
I mean, we're just small peas in a pond in this whole big thing. But Benji Buress had mentioned to me that he was. He was going to spruce pine. Gave me a contact number there. I'd reached out to her directly and. Sounds like they're. They're set up to take more stuff than what they have. They have some volunteers on hand for keeping things sorted.

Eric Merchant [00:11:38]:
I have no idea how the distribution of things is going because it sounds like a lot of the areas aren't even accessible other than, you know, off road vehicle, dirt bikes, hiking, that kind of thing. So I think we all wish we could do more or get it right to the point that it's needed, but obviously that's just nothing. Not able to happen. I don't think. I wouldn't even know how that would be. So spruce pine, if there's other ones, by all means. I. We're.

Eric Merchant [00:12:11]:
I don't think any one of us have any. It needs to go here, it needs to go there. And now with, with the situation in, in Florida, obviously we want to help as much as we can, but it's like nothing that we've collected is going to go to waste. Even if somewhere won't take it. We'll find the next spot of.

Braxton Critcher [00:12:30]:
Yeah, well, that. I think that's good to mention. If you're listening to this podcast, you're watching this episode on YouTube and you know, of a small town in western North Carolina, east Tennessee even. I think that's kind of in the path of where you're going to be coming from in Michigan. Hey, let us know in the comments. Hit us up on social media. Reach out to Eric, Corey or Elijah and give us some, some places that need supplies, because I think that's. I think that's your guy's heart.

Eric Merchant [00:13:01]:
So, yeah, we just need to get it where it's going to be the most use. Obviously, we don't want to put it somewhere where it's just going to get neglected or not. It'll be appreciated no matter what, but we want to get it to where it's going to be the most valuable, most helpful. And that obviously seems to be changing pretty much by the hour.

Braxton Critcher [00:13:25]:
Yeah.

Eric Merchant [00:13:26]:
As far as where that is. So we just. And even after this first trip down, I don't, I don't know that we're going to stop collecting just because there's going to be more need. I'd like to get the first trip down there this weekend is kind of the goalie Friday, and I would, I wouldn't doubt a bit if we came back and there's, you know, within a week or so a whole other load of stuff ready to go. But, yeah, whatever it takes.

Braxton Critcher [00:13:57]:
So, you know, I kind of want to know from each of you where this kind of comes from for you. I don't know if there's a background of. You've been through something like this in your past. I know, Elijah, you told me yesterday that you used to go in a few, four years ago, you would go and help with disaster relief for a few weeks. But where does a passion like this come from? Because obviously your states away. I don't think any of you are from North Carolina or the southeast. So, I mean, it's very appreciated, appreciated and people, of course, need it. But where does something like this come from for each of you?

Kory Rozema [00:14:40]:
I mean, for me, it was like, we always want to try to help everybody, anybody that's in need. You know, we do, we do little Facebook clips on Wednesdays for the shop and we always say, hey, if you know somebody that needs something, whether it's auto related or not, you know, please ask. Like, we just want to make sure we want to positively affect other people's lives. But then when my staff came back from Asta and they're talking with shop owners who have been, you know, I can't reach my loved ones, and then, oh, I just found out my house is gone, my business is gone. And that's, this is our industry, you know. You know, we're all on that same Facebook page, you know, changing the industry. And I think this is where it starts, right? Like, if we can't help people in the same industry as us, then, like, what's the point of waking up in the morning?

Braxton Critcher [00:15:37]:
That's good.

Eric Merchant [00:15:38]:
Definitely. Being at Asta was a big driver just to tag onto what Corey said. We're there with people that are personally affected by this, so that that brings it so much closer and then being in the area, you know, the local news is covering it, that type of stuff, but just. And when you're looking people in the eye that have been personally affected by it, that just brings it right to home. And Cory hit on it as well. We're all a big family, even though a lot of us don't know each other, but we're bonded by our business and our passion and those types of things. And what can we do that doesn't take much effort to help those that have got such an uphill battle ahead of them is the easy, easy way to put it. I've personally never been through anything like that.

Eric Merchant [00:16:37]:
You know, I've been in Michigan my whole life. The worst thing we see in Michigan is it snows. We don't, we don't have the tornadoes. We don't have the hurricanes. I don't even know what it would be like to go through something like that.

Braxton Critcher [00:16:50]:
Yeah.

Eric Merchant [00:16:50]:
So it's definitely not coming from first hand experience that way. But this is easy for us to do. I mean, it's a lot of work and we don't mind doing it a bit, but this is nothing, you know, we can collect all day long compared to the trials that those people are having to deal with.

Braxton Critcher [00:17:11]:
And I want to jump in here before you answer that question, Elijah, but I think it's also important to know, and you've probably seen some of the coverage about the area. But Asheville and western North Carolina doesn't see stuff like this either. Like, you know, Michigan Sea snow. Asheville has some rain. Like, you know, in my lifetime, and most folks, I mean, I'm only 27, but in most folks lifetimes that I've talked to, they're like, this is never seen this before. And they were saying that before the storm happened, they were like, this could be a storm event worse than the area has seen in over 100 years, 1916. And so this area is not used to it. And so I think you can kind of relate to that, too, because you're going to be, when you come down here to deliver things, you're going to be seeing people that have never experienced anything like this.

Braxton Critcher [00:18:14]:
And so that almost makes it another level of thankfulness and gratefulness for what you guys are doing. Just so you know. Um, what, what are your thoughts, Elijah?

Elijah McMillan [00:18:26]:
I mean, similar. I was obviously at Asta with my one employee, and, um, he actually offered to give last week's paycheck. And I told him that the shop was going to take care of that because he. But that's how affected he was by it, which was pretty cool just to see that buy into what we're doing. But, you know, like, like Chloe said, helping people. I mean, that's kind of why it's called second mile. Like, going the extra mile. I've tried to make that who I am as a person and who we are as a business.

Elijah McMillan [00:18:54]:
And this is just another extension of that. One other thing that was probably big for us is traveling back, like, driving through North Carolina, you know, driving across 40. Like, we got to the point that there were signs, like, don't travel further, you know, before we got to our turn north, and we turned north and decided to stop for some gas. And, like, people were shell shocked in the gas station. Like, the lady that checked us out was like, not normal. And, like, I don't like, like, it was not like she was like, we don't want to be here. It's awful. And it was like, just that, you know, there wasn't any gas available because the Internet was down and stuff.

Elijah McMillan [00:19:35]:
But this wasn't even very far west necessarily, because it was, you know, we had turned north before the. But it definitely, definitely gave us a little bit of an idea of how, how Hollywood it got hit as well.

Braxton Critcher [00:19:47]:
How much like Eric, you told me yesterday, eight, nine, maybe ten truckloads. You also mentioned this is just the first time you're going to try to come down. So how much supplies do you expect to have before you leave? And I mean, I think you're kind of playing it day by day, but you're hoping to come down a second 3rd time.

Eric Merchant [00:20:14]:
It's whatever it takes for the number. And at first I was, I've got a 35 foot gooseneck that I was, I was going to fill up, uh, and I was kind of, I was, when I first started, like, I hope we have enough to make it worthwhile, you know, if the trailer load, so to speak. And now it's, we're still organizing things and palletizing things and that type of stuff to get it ready to load. And now I'm concerned that there might not be enough room on it. And we've had some local, local businesses, local people reach out to myself and Corey about, you know, hey, I've got trucks and trailers available. Do you need help? Part of my concern personally is I don't want to hand off a truckload of stuff to somebody that I, that I really don't know and hope it gets there. So to me, I'm keeping it under my wing, so to speak. Just makes me feel better that we are getting it to where it needs to go and it just doesn't disappear.

Eric Merchant [00:21:22]:
And I hate to even think that, but we might get this all organized and realize, wow, there's a lot more here. I mean, this morning we've had three or four pallets dropped off from local places and we're getting to the point now, time wise, where we would start getting our freight shipments in. So there might be more stuff coming. And I've got friends in other states, shop owner type friends, acquaintances that are shipping stuff in the, which I was very surprised with. This was kind of a local drive, but people are sending stuff our way from Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Rhode Island. I was gonna say you had some people outside of this area. The stuff is getting delivered from Amazon or Walmart, Costco, and then pallets of donations from those outside places. So I.

Eric Merchant [00:22:22]:
It's unbelievable, the outpouring that that is happening. Local schools are getting involved. It's crazy.

Braxton Critcher [00:22:32]:
Well, that's good to know. For people that are not nearby, they can still ship things to, you and you can get it down there.

Eric Merchant [00:22:40]:
Yeah, I wasn't really shooting for that initial or early on because it just, again, it was a local thing, or that was what it was in my head with the Internet. You know, local is one thing, but you can reach so many people, and it's just been such an outpouring. It's been awesome. So I thought, well, if people want to do it, why would I tell them no?

Braxton Critcher [00:23:05]:
You might find a new line of work, Eric, in the middle of all this, you might turn into disaster relief.

Kory Rozema [00:23:12]:
Eric, you know, that's what you need. Eric, is another, another hobby.

Eric Merchant [00:23:17]:
That's right. I'm all about it, don't get me wrong. And if that's. I mean, if it does turn into that, the goal, honestly, would be we don't, we don't have to do this kind of stuff just because nobody wants to have a disaster. But that's the reality of things. And, man, if you. If we have it. If we have it, let's give it.

Eric Merchant [00:23:43]:
You know, we. We're all doing. Doing well enough to be able to give back. We're not rich. None of us are rich. We're just, you know, we have food on our table. Why can't somebody else? We have a roof over our head. Why can't somebody else? And who are we to, you know, I don't know where I'm going with that, but edit that part.

Kory Rozema [00:24:08]:
Yeah. I mean, I think, like, you know, we're all successful, right? By the grace of God. And, like, it's, it's up to us to kind of be the hands and feet here. And, you know, if we could do something as simple as collect and pass out or collect and deliver, you know, I mean, I hope we do get to make two or three, or I should say Eric, because I want to be able to go along, like, I can't go along with this first trip.

Eric Merchant [00:24:30]:
Yeah.

Kory Rozema [00:24:31]:
You know, selfishly, I do kind of want there to be so much stuff. We have to make two or three or four trips so that, so that I can go, you know, again, like, we're fortunate enough where we can go and rest our head on our pillow tonight. And there's other people sleeping in FEMA tents and trailers or whatever not their own. And we want to just try to help them get back to normal.

Braxton Critcher [00:24:58]:
Yeah.

Eric Merchant [00:24:59]:
Yeah. And it's. It's bigger than. Than that. North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, North Georgia circle. I mean, Florida just went through some nasty stuff, and now it's just a, you know, I don't. I don't know the status of it or what it's at at the moment right now, but, yeah, it's just overwhelming to comprehend, that's what.

Elijah McMillan [00:25:27]:
Yeah. Seeing so many other shop owners and stuff that have their shops and their homes and their families right in the path of that hurricane coming now, it's just. It's another hole. Yeah, it's. I can't comprehend it. It's just like, you kind of just. I have an app on my phone that follows hurricanes because of my disaster response experience in the past, and I just am like. It's just like a nightmare about it.

Elijah McMillan [00:25:53]:
You can't imagine how much worse it would be for them.

Braxton Critcher [00:25:57]:
Yeah. I really love what both are, all three of you have said, but I, uh, Eric here and Corey sort of hit on the. The core of. Of the why that I'm talking about. And it can come from, well, trying. Trying to say this the right way, but for me, it's my faith. And, you know, I. If I may, I have a scripture verse I want to just point to.

Braxton Critcher [00:26:32]:
It's Matthew 2028. It says, just as the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. Obviously not asking you guys to give your life, but even if whatever you guys or someone listening or watching this episode believes about Jesus, I think we could all agree that trying to live a life that was like Jesus is a good thing. And whether or not you believe he was the son of God, most people agree he was at least a good, moral person. And, you know, it said that he did not come to be served, but to serve. And that's where I get a lot of my want to desire will, and not that I'm perfect or do it all right, every time, but the put my desires aside and try and help somebody else who's in need because they didn't ask for this, it's not their fault, and they just need help. And who am I to think of myself as high and mighty, and I'm just gonna sit back and not do anything to help when I could? A compassionate heart is something that we need more of in not just this industry, this is an industry podcast, but in this, this world today. And so I love highlighting people like you guys that get it.

Braxton Critcher [00:28:09]:
And so thank you guys for having that part and wanting to do good things.

Eric Merchant [00:28:19]:
One of the things that I'd seen a couple years ago, it was assigned probably a meme or something on the Internet, frankly, but something to the effect of, if you have the ability. Build a longer table, not a taller fence. So don't block it in and hold it to yourself. Share it, you know, and I'm not saying that everybody has to go out and give everything away or, you know, but philanthropy is probably one of the most rewarding things people can do. And I'll be the first to say that I forget that frequently as a business owner, we think, oh, we work hard for this, we deserve this, we do all that. But something like this comes along and you. Really makes you check your ego a little bit, too.

Braxton Critcher [00:29:09]:
Yeah. Oh, I'm with you. It's so easy to sit in your circle and, you know, worry about the things that you are involved in. And, my goodness, if I'm blessed enough to feed the family and have a little extra leftover, not, like you said, nothing. Always trying to give it all away, but where it makes sense and where you think it's needed the most, why not? Why not makes the world a better place and takes away some of the division breaks, maybe even maybe making your table a little bigger. Eric breaks down other people's fences.

Eric Merchant [00:29:53]:
Yeah, if our. If. There you go. If our table rides through that barrier of a fence, I mean, there's probably a lot of different ways you could go with that accurate or that thought process, but, yeah, this is nothing for us to do in the grand scheme of things. It really isn't, you know, minor, minor inconvenience. And nobody. I'm going to speak for Corey and Elijah, nobody on our staff has complained in the least bit about the inconvenience that it might cause because they all understand the bigger picture. And just to be clear, this isn't, you know, something that we're looking for recognition on any of this.

Eric Merchant [00:30:41]:
This is just. We're just trying to do the right thing. That's why it was just, like, why does Braxton want to talk to us? You know, we're not. We're not looking for publicity or anything like that other than, hey, we're collecting. We'll get it to where we can get it to the best place, and that's. And that's kind of the end of it. But there's so many people doing similar things to what we're doing in different states, and I can't even imagine who they all are. I'm thinking of the people that I've personally been in contact with that has been helpful for where to go with stuff, but it's definitely an awesome thing.

Eric Merchant [00:31:20]:
I feel good about it.

Braxton Critcher [00:31:21]:
Yeah. Well, I mean, that's. That's the heart of this podcast. When I talked to Lucas, it's probably close to a year ago or more. You know, I said, because he was, he was asking me to try and host a podcast. And I said, well, is there anything that, is there anything that covers the good things that happened in the industry? He was like, yeah, I mean, there's. There's some stuff, but he's like, I don't know of any podcasts. I said, well, that'd be great because I just love finding people that.

Braxton Critcher [00:31:56]:
And, like, what your thought in your mind was, why is Braxton trying to talk to me about this? Well, that's what I want to do. You know, the people that try to do stuff like this for publicity, to do it for a pat on the back, often will be the ones that stick their hand up and reach out or make videos online for the attention. But I try and look for people that aren't, that aren't doing that because those are the authentic ones. And so this podcast is trying to highlight the good things that happen in the automotive industry in hopes that it can start to change the perspective about the automotive industry and move it forward. Because, my goodness, not only is it a big industry, but it's a very important industry in the world. Automotive repair and the automotive industry in general. And for a little while, the perception of the industry has not been a good one. And so this podcast is, in hopes, trying to spotlight some of the good stories that happen, because they happen all the time, like you said, but they just don't get talked about.

Braxton Critcher [00:33:06]:
So that's the idea of this podcast. And I know you gotta go, Corey, so we'll try and wrap up. But thank you guys for being here. I really appreciate it.

Kory Rozema [00:33:16]:
Yeah, yeah. I just like one more thing that, you know, it's kind of a side effect of doing these kinds of things is you get to see so many people doing good things. You know, it's. You're not constantly being berated by negative things when you're doing things like this. And, you know, again, kind of selfishly like that, that definitely adds fuel to it. You know, when you have complete strangers driving 100 miles because, oh, we saw you on Facebook or Instagram or we saw you on Fox 17 News, so we wanted to make sure it was going to go somewhere for sure, as opposed to dropping it off at whatever place and have it be a little bit more unknown. So that's just, that's just incredibly rewarding, having complete strangers say, thank you for doing this, when really we're just like the middlemen.

Eric Merchant [00:34:13]:
The very first drop off that we had, as far as a public drop off, the lady came in, she had a couple bags of stuff, and we had some stuff in the showroom that we'd accumulated. And she looked around, and she goes, well, who's responsible for doing all this? And there was probably four of us in the showroom as she did it, nice as we all are, you know, my team, she goes, well, I'm going to give out hugs for everybody. And she gave every one of us a hug and just. Just a smile on her face. I'm like, that's the kind of stuff that just makes it all worth it. And we don't know her, she don't know us, but it meant something to her. And that just, you know, all that energy just moves back and forth. It's.

Eric Merchant [00:35:00]:
It's amazing.

Braxton Critcher [00:35:03]:
Yeah. Selfish things divide, but good things unite.

Eric Merchant [00:35:09]:
Yeah.

Braxton Critcher [00:35:10]:
Even if you don't know people.

Eric Merchant [00:35:12]:
True.

Elijah McMillan [00:35:13]:
That's a pleasure. I was gonna say, it's just. It's. Thank you, Eric, for, you know, making it possible for us to even, you know, because, like, if I did this, it would be on such a small scale, it doesn't feel like it would make a difference, but just your, you know, putting the idea out there and doing just thank you so much for giving us the opportunity to participate. And, you know, again, know that, like, what you said about making sure it gets to a good place resonates with my heart, so thank you for that.

Eric Merchant [00:35:42]:
Wow. It takes all of us to do it. Like, that's why we're all in it together.

Braxton Critcher [00:35:47]:
Yeah, well, it does take all of us, because without Elijah, I don't think I would have got connected with you, Eric. So, you know, I think I had followed your page, but seeing what Elijah was doing kind of pointed me in the right direction to see you. So, I mean, this is. It's really been a big team effort on all three of you guys and a lot of other people. So it's very, very good stuff. And by the way, we mentioned it before, but if you have ideas, suggestions of places for these three guys to drop things off at, leave them in the comments on the YouTube video. If you're listening on Apple podcasts, no comment section, there is one on Spotify, but you can always reach out to Eric. That's merchants Automotive, LLC.

Braxton Critcher [00:36:43]:
That's right.

Eric Merchant [00:36:44]:
Yeah. There's, uh. We don't really have anything on the website about it. Um, I don't even have a direct email that would be tied to it, probably. Yeah. Yep. Uh, or or Corey or Elijah. And we can make sure that the messages get to where they need to go for that kind of stuff.

Eric Merchant [00:37:05]:
So we all have Facebook and social media and that type of thing?

Braxton Critcher [00:37:10]:
Yes. Let us know in the comments. This has been good news in auto repair.