Howe2Run held a donation event Tuesday for arson victims.
Howe2Run was severely damaged following a March 27 intentionally set fire. Local authorities later arrested seven people in connection with the fire that impacted several other businesses.
“Our business had only been open for three weeks when the fire happened,” said Pam Howe. “The fire that closed our doors so quickly was a shock like no other and the devastation was horrible because our dream literally went up in smoke. My husband, Phillip, has five years of run specialty retail sales experience and I have been the runner in the family for the same amount of time. We decided last year to combine our strengths and make our dream of having our store a reality. On March 8, we had the ribbon cutting with the Liberty County Chamber of Commerce at our 103 S. Main Street site. We were so excited to be a part of this community!”
Smoke damaged 100% of the store’s contents and inventory. The Hartford Insurance Company and the agents at Bernard Williams & Company made sure that the Howes’ financial losses were recovered.
“We were fortunate to have the love and concern of family, friends and the community and great insurance coverage with The Hartford and great support from our agency, Bernard Williams & Company. All of this support has meant so much to us and we felt the need to give back. Now our loss is another’s gain!”
According to the Howes, The Hartford is allowing them to help the local community by donating the useable, yet unsellable, inventory items to charity.
Howe2Run donated 31 large boxes full of Run Specialty items such as Saucony, Mizuno, ON, Under Armour, Salomon and Skechers Performance running shoes as well as New Balance and Under Armour apparel to include shorts, t-shirts and tank tops; and Balega and Feetures performance socks.
The total estimated value of the items was in excess of $40,000 and the UWCE of Liberty County says that this is their largest singular product donation.