Tornadoes tore through the Midwest over the last two weeks impacting metropolitan areas such as Dayton, Ohio. While the death toll from the EF4 tornado in Dayton showed a miraculous zero, the structural damage and physical destruction caused by the storm was devastating.
APRO member, former board member and owner of SRKinnear, Inc. dba Premier Rental-Purchase in Dayton, Ohio, Scott Kinnear, had his store touched with fortunately only minor damage while the nearby apartment complexes, home to many of his customers, were destroyed. These customers will likely relocate long-term due to no commitment to rebuild by the complex owners. “As I drove around bearing witness to the hardest hit communities in Dayton, all any of us here at Premier Rental-Purchase could do was be thankful that no one lost their life,” shares Kinnear.
Sadly, one of his employees, Antuan Thortan, was also affected, being displaced from his home. Thortan was able to recover some of his belongings and is now living with his girlfriend’s parents. Along with losing his home, he and many who experienced the same, have to miss work for a few days. FEMA and other local agencies are responding to immediate needs, but more can always be done.
While finding solace in these times with natural disasters is hard, the RTO Employee Disaster Relief Fund was established to help rent-to-own employees recover in these situations. Since 2005, APRO members have contributed to the fund which has dispersed more than $425,000 to those affected by hurricanes, tornadoes, and fires. Due to the unfortunate frequency of these natural disasters, APRO’s membership is ready to help RTO employees at any time with its established RTO [Relief To Our] Employees Disaster Relief Fund.
If your company is an APRO member, and you or your employee(s) have been affected by a recent natural disaster, you might qualify for assistance. Click here to apply for assistance and APRO staff will contact you.
