Love's Employees Make a Difference During Recent Hurricanes

After the storm passed, more team members returned to serve the long line of Customers who flooded in as 453 reopened. Willen stayed for a while to watch the door.

"I wanted to make sure no one was ripping the store off. I wanted to repay my favor," he said.

Peck witnessed that same spirit of generosity among both employees and others in the crowded store.

"I saw people pushing cars that had flat tires, offering to let the elderly and handicapped Customers to move to the front of the lines and even paying for items that they didn't have enough money to cover," Peck said.

That commitment and compassion certainly could be seen across many of our stores in the path of the hurricanes.

Weeks earlier, team members at Love's 412 in Dunn, North Carolina, helped a nearby nursing home, even after Hurricane Florence knocked out the power and forced the store to close.

The man who operates the nursing home drove to the store, asking for ice.

"I found out how much he needed, bagged five bags of ice and brought it up to him, said Mike Johnson, Operations Manager. "He drops by every so often and thanks us for helping him."

Two hundred miles away at Love's 326 in Orangeburg, South Carolina, Tire Care Mechanic James Tucker took the time to change an elderly woman's flat tire amid the rush of Customers after the store reopened.

"When (Division Director) Tony Cribb hired me, he told me I would make a difference," Tucker said, "My mom always told me 'If you can, give a helping hand.'"

Even if they weren't in the direct path of the storms, other store team members traveled to affected areas, helping in stores that saw an influx of Customers before and after the hurricanes.

While Love's 561 in Mossy Head, Florida, did not take a direct hit from Hurricane Michael, the store was extremely busy in the wake of the storm.

"The store, Subway and tire shop teams put in a lot of extra hours to take care of the Customers," said Peck.

In the aftermath of Michael, dozens of employees from other stores in the region helped at Love's 561 and 453 in Cottondale.

"We would not have been able to take care of our communities without these people and their efforts," said Peck.

A big part of helping Customers involves preparation, sometimes days before the storm arrives. Whether it's Gemini drivers stocking up stores with extra fuel or corporate support teams coordinating logistics, Love's is able to mobilize our resources when Customers need us the most.

"Pushing all the assets we needed before it could get crazy was super helpful," said Justin Carter, former General Manager at Love's 326 who recently transferred to another location in North Carolina.

Store employees sacrifice a lot of their time to make sure operations continue to run as smoothly as possible. Carter recalls law enforcement reversing traffic on Interstate 26 while thousands of South Carolina residents evacuated ahead of Florence.

"I could get home from work, but getting to work was difficult," said Carter.

In normal circumstances, store managers will tell you successfully opening a location involves a lot of work. In the days before Hurricane Florence made landfall, Love's 715 opened a full 24 hours ahead of schedule to serve Customers evacuating through Bastian, Virginia.

"It gave them another option along their route to safer ground and then again on their way home," said Dustin Aker, General Manager of Love's 715.

It's our unwavering commitment to look out for each other and Customers, no matter what circumstance, that makes our employees across the Love's Family of Companies so special.