As part of the National Day of Service, technicians from My Handyman of Ann Arbor performed more than 80 hours of repair and maintenance jobs for a southeast Michigan domestic abuse shelter on Sept. 9, all without a collecting any labor costs.

Mr. Handyman’s corporate office made First Step, a domestic violence shelter in Wayne County, the day’s primary beneficiary. A My Handyman technician and nine home office employees performed maintenance and repairs including adding child safety latches to cabinets, moving items between offices, hanging clocks, changing outside lights and securing bookshelves to the wall.

The project is an example of a national effort through Mr. Handyman, where technicians from Los Angeles to Washington D.C., organized local repair projects on Sept. 9 for children’s hospitals, domestic violence shelters, homes of military veterans and other groups in need across the country.

"We are thrilled to be working with First Step as part of Mr. Handyman’s National Day of Service campaign,” said Doug LaPlant, owner of My Handyman in Dexter. “We are always looking for ways to give back to our community, and we are excited to be a part of a national operation to help organizations in need.”

The National Day of Service and Remembrance was established in 2009 as a way to encourage Americans to participate in service and remembrance activities on the 9/11 anniversary. This year, more than 1 million Americans were expected to serve in their communities in honor of 9/11, according to United We Serve, a national organization that supports the Day of Service.

This marks the third consecutive year Mr. Handyman has participated in the Day of Service, donating a combined 1,600 hours of labor to groups in need over the past two years.

Mr. Handyman is part of a network of independently-owned and operated franchises with nearly 300 locations nationwide that provides commercial and residential property maintenance and repair services.

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