A kind-hearted Florida businessman is playing Santa for the second holiday season in a row — this year reportedly paying the overdue utilities bills for 114 families who were at risk of losing service. “This year to me probably is more meaningful than last year with the pandemic and all the people out of work having to stay home,” Michael Esmond, 74, told CNN.
Esmond, the owner of a pool installation company in Gulf Breeze, shelled out over $7,600 this year for families whose bills were past due, the city’s utility billing supervisor, Joanne Oliver, told the outlet. “People can’t afford to pay their bills and put food on the table, so I hope doing my part and paying some bills for these folks takes a little bit of stress off of them around.