BY NICK FORTUNA

When Elena and Mia Rodriguez lost their father in an industrial accident April 15, they knew there could be no wake or funeral, and relatives and friends wouldn’t be able to pay their respects and offer condolences in person. Javier Rodriguez, 49, who had been caught in a piece of machinery and found unconscious, may not have been a victim of COVID-19, but the pandemic had robbed him of a proper sendoff.

That didn’t sit well with Paul Marcinkowski, the owner-operator of Arco ampm Gas Station & Convenience Store and Big Splash Car Wash in Imperial, Calif. Elena, 21, had worked in his convenience store for the past 10 months, and just a year and a half prior, she and Mia, 18, had lost their mother, Anna, to breast cancer.

Marcinkowski wanted to help the sisters, and his 65-foot automatic conveyor express exterior wash tunnel gave him an effective way to do it. He called the local paper and said he would donate all proceeds from washes on May 2 to the sisters, hoping to raise $1,000 or $2,000. To everyone’s surprise, the community response was huge, with about 230 washes generating $4,400 for Elena and Mia.

With cars lined up more than 10 in a row for much of the day, the sisters, wearing masks and gloves, handed out bottled water to waiting customers, some of whom had driven 20 or 30 miles to get a wash, Marcinkowski said.

“Elena had been an employee for a while, and my wife and I wanted to help her,” he said. “We were definitely overwhelmed by the support from the community. The conveyor didn’t stop the whole day, so it was a great day for us. I think it gave [the sisters] a true sense of the amount of love that the community had for their father. This event provided that kind of public outpouring of affection for them that they hadn’t really received yet.”

Marcinkowski described Elena as smart, quiet and a diligent worker doing well in her first full-time job. He said he and his wife, Ayesha, had helped several other employees dealing with problems in the past, and they wanted to let the sisters know that they weren’t alone.
“We’ve always been very employee-focused and try to take care of them in any way we can,” Marcinkowski said.

For millions of hardworking Americans, the coronavirus pandemic has compounded the everyday challenges of life, but it also has created opportunities for employers to show just how much they value their workers.

TAKING ACTION WHEN IT’S NEEDED MOST

The dozen workers at Speedy Car Wash Inc.’s two locations in Panama City Beach, Fla., got some peace of mind early in the pandemic when owner Jimmy Branch pledged to pay them whether the business had to shut down or not. Fortunately, the car washes stayed open, though they were forced to close down their vacuum stations for five weeks and business was slow.

Through the newly created Payroll Protection Program, Branch was able to give his employees their full weekly wages for eight weeks. He then gave them a $2 bonus per hour for the next eight weeks. By mid-May, two workers had tested positive for COVID-19, and several others had fallen sick but tested negative, so Branch gave his employees paid sick leave and encouraged those showing symptoms of illness to stay home.

“I love my staff,” Branch said. “Two of them have worked for me for 25 years, and their relatives work for me too. So it’s like a family. Experienced staff are just irreplaceable. It takes months for new staffers to really get up to speed. Experienced staffers prevent damages and are more efficient. When an employee doesn’t know what to put into a tunnel and what not to put into a tunnel, it can cost you thousands of dollars.”

Branch also had stepped up for his employees when Hurricane Michael devastated parts of the Florida Panhandle in October 2018. Having started the Facebook group TalkCarWash for professionals in the industry, he posted a message asking members to donate to his staff, saying he would match their generosity dollar for dollar.

Group members chipped in $19,000, and Branch doubled that, giving $3,800 to each of his 10 employees at the time. He even paid their taxes on that money.

“I didn’t know what to do, but I knew my people needed help,” Branch said. “To see my friends in the car wash industry step up and give to my staff, it made me cry. The love for people in this industry is just remarkable. I learned then the importance of taking care of people, and I know this too: If you want to relieve stress in your life, give something away to somebody else.”

STARTING AN EMPLOYEE RELIEF FUND

From late March to early May, Arbor Car Wash and Lube Center gave away free exterior washes at its five locations in central Texas and encouraged customers to contribute to the company’s employee relief fund.

The generous donations allowed the company to pay all of its workers their full weekly wages, even though some full-time workers were only needed part time and others couldn’t work at all. Older employees and those with compromised immune systems were told to stay home because they were in high-risk categories for COVID-19.

Arbor Car Wash also used contributions to give employees gift cards for groceries and gas, according to manager Tanya Criswell, who said her location gave away 5,503 washes.

“Everyone was still getting paid what they were used to getting paid, even though they weren’t able to work like they were before,” Criswell said. “We have awesome owners who care about their employees and treat them like family.”

Criswell said the company was stunned by the generosity of customers, whose individual donations went as high as $300.

“It brought out a lot of good in a lot of people,” she said.