Gina Grundmeier and her husband, Todd Grundmeier, started T ‘N G Plumbing (T ‘N G) in 2011. In 2014, the Minnesota-based business was bestowed with Best Plumber of Mower County. The company wanted to find a way to give back to its community, which is where the dream of PayItForward started.

T ‘N G’s main PayItForward project is a renovation that it does annually each March. Prior to the renovation, the company sets up a nomination period that runs during the month of January to find its recipient. The nominations come in from family members, friends and homeowners, each writing an essay on why they need work done in their bathroom. By mid-February, T ‘N G chooses the recipient and maps out the project in its entirety.

Although the bathroom is the primary focus during the renovation, it is by no means all the company does during that week. The homeowner is put in a hotel on Sunday night and can return the following Friday at 5 p.m. The local Holiday Inn provides the room(s) at no cost. The crew starts Monday morning and works wholeheartedly for the next few days!

In 2019, T ‘N G renovated a bathroom to accommodate this year’s recipient, Karen. Karen has crippling rheumatoid arthritis, so the company made her bathroom much more functional and safer for her to use. T ‘N G also laid out entirely new flooring throughout the home for occasions when Karen would need to use a wheelchair. Karen also received a new furnace, air conditioner, water heater, water softener and furniture. This year’s project was estimated to finish at approximately $62,000 in repairs, replacements and renovations.

The company’s growth since it started has been astounding for T ‘N G, knowing that its first-year PayItForward project was around $24,000. In total, the company has provided nearly $250,000 in aid to homeowners and nearly $30,000 for other needs from medical to general aid to plumbing services.

PayItForward is also involved in dozens of smaller ways to aid others throughout the year, including the following:

• Purchasing a leafblower for a woman whose husband is serving in the U.S. Army overseas
• Gifting a one-half hog to a father and his children
• Donating more than 50 costumes to a local elementary school for in-need children
• Paying a daycare bill to help a mother in need
• Helping to pay a medical bill for an injured dog
• Providing an emergency bathroom renovation for a man who had terminal brain cancer

T ‘N G feels there are members of the community who have suffered and continue to suffer trials in their life that are beyond their own control. Reaching out to those people is a way for the company to wrap them in a sense of community love and safety. T ‘N G believes the success of the businesses in its community rely on the community itself, and without those community members, the businesses will not succeed.

“It’s time to give back to those people and help the continued growth of the hope we need in humanity,” said T ‘N G Co-Owner Gina Grundmeier.

T ‘N G would like to stress that there are numerous others in the local community that contribute to PayItForward for needs such as meals for the family during the week of the project, items for the bathroom, and extra projects that are undertaken in the home as well. Those contributors help make PayItForward happen.

“It is beautiful to see everyone join together in this effort — even more rewarding to know we are making a change in someone’s life and restoring hope around them,” said Gina Grundmeier.

For more information about PayItForward, visit www.payitforwardtng.org.

Follow this link to view more of our 2019 Companies That Give.