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Professional Handyman Boards Up Businesses With No Labor Cost After Looting

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — It's not every day you hear a professional handyman picking up a drill for free, but that's what Gary Miranda is doing.

"A lot of people can't afford this. Since we've been out of work for almost three months, it's just been hit, after hit, after hit," Gary Miranda, CEO of Sac City Building Maintenance, said.

Miranda and his team are boarding up and cleaning up businesses from Vacaville to Natomas to downtown Sacramento with no labor costs; only charging for plywood.

The owners of Step One Dance and Fitness say boarding up is the right step to take amid the pandemic and to prevent any looting from happening.

"We felt for the safety of the facility and the safety of our clients. We felt it was a prudent step to take to come back in," Mary Wright, Co-Owner of Step One Dance & Fitness, said.

"To look forward to that day when we reopen to have that challenge and even remotely threatened just drops your heart into your stomach," Pepper Von, Co-Owner of Step One Dance & Fitness, said.

READ: Sacramento Police Chief Walks With Marchers At Oak Park Protest, Takes A Knee

In fact, the studio is also putting up signs saying they're supporting the push for change. The signs say they support equality and the Black Lives Matter movement.

"'We are one' is our actual slogan for our business and we have to come together and just love each other and have the conversation," Wright said.

The man putting up these boards also stands by the fight for equality.

"There's no love. There's no what you could call peace. So, I just look it at as one person. If you could make one person smile, then that's one more person that's happy out there," Miranda said.

The studio feels Gary's actions mean much more to them. It's showing them something special.

"And if we need anything now, at this time, it's more human kindness. So and just like the shirt says, love wins," Von said. "To think that we are going to make through this pandemic; if we think we were going to make it through this time and civil unrest in our society and in our communities; if we think we are going to any of this by ourselves, we're not."

A grand gesture, all reminding us of one simple thing.

"We've been through this 100 years ago at least, you know. And here we are rewinding time and doing this again. Like I said, I think we all need to come together," Miranda said.

To things in perspective, Miranda says that some of these boarding-up jobs can cost up to $2,500 with labor included. These jobs are being done for a fraction of that. 

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