Marathons typically last about 5 hours, if you are an average runner.
And by average I mean you have monitored your sleep, changed your diet, and trained for upwards of a year on a specialized program designed to give you the energy production and endurance you need to finish 26.2 miles in one go. Then there is the mental toughness required to resist fatigue and keep from falling to pieces when you realize that "the middle" means you still have 13 miles left. Yikes.
For the entire week of April 3 to April 10th, Super Lube launched our second Thank You Healthcare Heroes event, offering complimentary Oil, Lube & Filter services to frontline healthcare workers. Our marathon lasted 7 days, and when we crossed the finished line we were still standing.
And we had surpassed our goal of 5000 free Oil, Lube, Filter services and tire rotations, servicing 5,012 vehicles belonging to local Healthcare Heroes. That is 716 oil changes per day, or roughly 73 free oil changes for every hour we were open.
It's a good thing we train for this job every day!
Throughout the pandemic we have been able to retain ALL of our staff. And each of them was certainly needed during this one-week marathon. Our Super Team showed up and left it all in the shop, racing from one car to the next, showing incredible endurance and mental toughness. And we did it with a smile on our faces - which wasn't difficult because of the 5,012 smiles looking back at us.
This has been a personal mission for us. Last May in the earliest stages of the pandemic, with our garages temporarily closed, Super Lube staff had it on their hearts to give back to the people who, despite all the unknowns were still heading to hospitals, personal care homes and other frontline health positions to provide crucial care to the most vulnerable among us. The Healthcare Heroes campaign was born out of this personal desire to recognize the sacrifices of so many frontline workers, and a corporate responsibility we felt to give back and make a difference in our community during a crisis.
We decided to call them Heroes and honour them in the best way we knew how. By filling their engines with oil and their hearts with our gratitude.
We weren't sure what the response would be. Would exhausted healthcare workers take advantage of our complimentary car care and get in line? Would a 10-minute oil change and a genuine thank you lift their spirits? The answer was a resounding "YES!" last year as we served 4,018 Heroes over the course of a week.
With our province and medical community facing so many similar challenges in 2021, we decided to run the Healthcare Heroes event a second year in a row. The response was again overwhelming. Surpassing our goal of five thousand vehicles serviced this year was a wild ride for us and one we are immensely proud of.
One of the Heroes that came to our Portage Ave location on Saturday, April 10th, had this to say about their experience.
"I cannot say enough how amazing this staff is. How appreciated this gesture is. How much it affected me emotionally. It’s the little things that make such a difference. It really gave me hope in humanity today. Which can be hard to find in these tough times of Covid. I appreciate this so much. And I didn’t want it to go unnoticed. Thank you, you guys are truly amazing!"
Hardship always reveals heroism, calling on new heroes to rise up in the face of a new challenge. There is an opportunity in these moments for all of us to rise up and do our part, even if it's just saying a heartfelt thank-you. In the weeks leading up to this event, I heard someone ask Jim Brousseau (our CEO and Founder) why we would do this for a whole week. His answer was three words.
Because we can.
That might be the best reason I've ever heard.
We love taking care of your car, it is our passion. We are also passionate about people. We love our team, we our customers, and our Healthcare Heroes. We are proud to be part of this city and province, and we are here whenever you need us...
Well on second thought, maybe just check our hours first!
And do what you can for someone else - just because you can.
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