Michelle Leopold is “one powerful mom.” And he or she has the ink to show it.
It’s a tattoo on her ankle devoted to her son Trevor, who died of an overdose in 2019 when he took an Oxycodone capsule that had been laced with fentanyl.
“I at all times thought I used to be not a tattoo particular person,” Leopold advised FOX Enterprise in a current interview in New York Metropolis.
THIS MARYLAND TOWN WILL PAY YOU UP TO $20,000 TO RELOCATE THERE
“But when I have been to get a tattoo I might get ‘one powerful mom.’ After which my son died, and I knew I needed a tattoo, in order that was the primary one I obtained.”
Michelle Leopold and her husband, Jeff Leopold, are homeowners of Customary 5&10 in San Francisco, California, and 5 different Ace {Hardware} shops within the Bay Space.
They turned their son’s demise right into a campaign to lift consciousness of the hazards of fentanyl and different lethal medicine.
Their story, and 99 others from native Ace Ironmongery store homeowners across the nation, are shared in “Heartware Tales.”
Based in 1924, Ace {Hardware} is celebrating its one centesimal anniversary of making regionally owned pillars of greater than 5,000 communities across the nation.
Ace {Hardware}, based in 1924, produced the video and digital sequence to have a good time its one centesimal anniversary of being regionally owned pillars of greater than 5,000 communities across the nation.
The tales are culled from folks in all 50 states.
They embrace touching and provoking movies of individuals across the nation working collectively to construct higher communities, and are discovered at acehardware.com/heartwarestories.
They’ll even be out there on ROKU beginning this fall.
The Leopolds’ story is very related on August 31, acknowledged as Worldwide Overdose Consciousness Day.
Utilizing Ace as its platform, the Leopold household is spreading consciousness in regards to the risks of fentanyl. They practice employees, clients and group members, whereas distributing free Narcan kits and academic supplies on find out how to assist others.
X SHUTTING DOWN SAN FRANCISCO HEADQUARTERS ON FRIDAY THE 13TH: REPORT
The Leopolds hope to forestall different mother and father from having to bury a toddler due to fentanyl or different lethal medicine.
The “Heartware Tales” additionally draw consideration to an element Ace {Hardware} believes differentiates its enterprise from that of its huge box-store opponents.
“Ace is made up of native shops with native retailer homeowners,” Kim Lefko, chief advertising officer at Ace {Hardware}, advised FOX Enterprise.
“There are 5,000 Ace {Hardware} shops throughout the nation and I might say all 5,000 shops measure the vibe of their communities and their neighborhoods on daily basis.”
Whereas big-box residence enchancment shops are touted for his or her comfort, Lefko cites Ace {Hardware}’s 5,008 shops nationwide as the last word comfort.
“We have now extra shops than our two largest opponents mixed,” she stated.
The group impression is highlighted within the 100 “Heartware Tales.”
“So 80% of households in the US are inside quarter-hour of an Ace Ironmongery store.”
For extra Way of life articles, go to www.foxbusiness.com/life-style
The native impression of the shops goes far behind promoting grout, grills and gardening provides. The group impression is highlighted within the 100 “Heartware Tales.”
John and Laurie Luitgaarden of Wexford Ace {Hardware} in Wexford, Pennsylvania, launched “Operation Brown Bear.”
They’ve delivered teddy bears by way of the household’s small single-engine aircraft – John Luitgaarden is a pilot – to 1000’s of Kids’s Miracle Community sufferers in Pennsylvania and surrounding states.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER
Weston Jacobs of Weakly-Watson {Hardware} in Brownwood, Texas, led the trouble to restore surprising injury to a treasured veterans’ memorial after it was vandalized.
The restore work included changing big 3,000-pound stones that had been damaged into items, at a value of greater than $40,000.
And Michael Wynn, proprietor of Sunshine Ace {Hardware} in Bonita Springs, Florida, turned his retailer right into a “lifeline” for the area people after the Gulf Coast was devastated by Hurricane Ian in 2022.
Leopold’s struggle continues every day.
She now wears three tattoos, every one chronicling a stage on her journey to make sure her son didn’t die in useless.
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE
Her most up-to-date tattoo, on her higher left arm which she exhibits by way of her sleeve, reveals a coronary heart fabricated from barbed wire.
“That’s as a result of it’s a tough, arduous coronary heart,” stated Leopold. “There’s loads of sharp edges about love. However love is essential.”