CLIFTON HEIGHTS, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — A century-old water ice company out of Delaware County is in the middle of a fundraising campaign to bring in needed dollars for its furloughed workers and help local veterans at the same time.
Rosati Ice products are typically found at grocery stores, but when summer turns into fall and winter, about 90% of the company’s business typically comes from K-12 schools.
This is no typical year, however, and many students are learning from home and not in the classroom, meaning a lot of lunches are eaten in dining rooms and not school cafeterias.
“And when the schools shut down, it took away about 75 to 80% of our business,” explained Rich Trotter, the longtime owner of the Clifton Heights-based company that was established in 1912.
Trotter gives credit to his sales team for trying to get business in other parts of the country where schools are still open, but he described the effort with the old expression of “squeezing blood out of a turnip.” So, he said his 20 employees are either furloughed or took pay cuts, himself included.
“We are a family here. I’ve got 20 families whose economic livelihoods depend on me guiding them through,” Trotter said.
So, he decided to start a GoFundMe campaign that would benefit his workers while helping veterans in the area.
Trotter, a 1977 West Point graduate whose father was a corporal during the Korean War and whose son is a current Army captain, said the way it works is for every $3 donated, a cup of water ice will be given to veterans and their caretakers.
“If we can do 100,000 cups, that’ll raise enough money for me to bring my people back full-time,” he said.
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That means the goal is to bring in $300,000, which Trotter said would help bridge the gap until business picks up again in the spring.
As difficult as this period has been, Trotter remains optimistic due to the support the campaign has gotten so far.
“If you’re not hopeful then what do you have?” he said. “We’re a 108-year-old company and we want to make it to 109!”