Sunday, September 4, 2005

Joe Raymond / Special to The Detroit News Sean, left, and Adam Sobczak of Lakeshore RV are spearheading an effort to send vehicles for Hurricane Katrina victims.

RV dealer will send shelter south

Muskegon brothers prepare 900 trailers for Hurricane Katrina victims to use as homes.

By Tenisha Mercer / The Detroit News

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Hundreds of miles away from the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast, Muskegon recreational vehicle dealers Sean and Adam Sobczak have begun a Herculean effort to help victims: The brothers are sending 700 RVs to shelter evacuees as part of the federal government's massive relief program.

The RVs -- trailers equipped with kitchen, bathroom, two bedrooms, living quarters and bunk areas for children -- retail for about $20,000, but the Sobczaks are selling them to the feds for $15,000.

The order means Lakeshore RV, the Sobczaks' dealership, which typically sells about 800 recreational vehicles a year, will have to prepare close to that number in a matter of weeks.

Plus, the dealership is sending an additional 200 RVs south that insurance companies are renting to assist their customers.

"It's hurricane hustle," said Lakeshore RV co-owner Sean Sobczak, 34.

"It's been chaos for us, but you can see people are frustrated and upset. We want to get them there as quick as we can, so we are working as hard and as long as we can."

The order is a sales boom for the Sobczaks -- about $10.5 million in revenue for the 700 vehicles going to the government. In the coming weeks and months, there will be countless opportunities for construction firms, home builders and other companies to profit from rebuilding communities devastated by Katrina.

But the Sobczak brothers also consider their mission humanitarian, much like companies around the state and the country that are donating everything from prescription drugs to groceries in an outpouring of relief to assist victims of what may be the country's worst natural disaster.

"This is the time to step up to the plate," said Michael Bernacchi, a marketing professor at the University of Detroit Mercy.

"This pulls at the heartstrings of all of us. There is extraordinary empathy. I don't think that there is an organization out there, whether large or small, that isn't asking themselves what they can do and how they can do it."

That's the question the Sobczaks contemplated when the request came in Wednesday from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Supplying hundreds of RVs at a moment's notice is a huge task -- even for one of the largest RV dealers in the state.

The brothers quickly sprang into action, all but closing their dealership to retail customers to fill the government's order.

The dealership had only 100 RVs in stock, so they immediately ordered 600 trailers from its supplier, Forest River in Elkhart, Ind.

A half-dozen Lakeshore employees are working 12-hour days to prepare the 120 units that arrive daily -- virtually as fast as the manufacturer can make them.

About 20 volunteers are helping to load the vehicles with nonperishable food and supplies.

The biggest challenge isn't getting hundreds of homes-on-wheels shipped to Muskegon, but moving them to the disaster area.

The trailers will be towed to the hurricane zone, which covers parts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

So far, the Sobczaks have lined up about 100 drivers, who will make trips back and forth.

The first 150 trailers will leave for the Gulf Coast on Wednesday; with the rest expected to hit the road over the next three weeks, Sean Sobczak said.

It's not clear where the trailers will go, but most likely they will be located near military bases near disaster areas, Sobczak said.

It's not the first time Lakeshore RV has answered the government's call for help.

Last year, the dealership provided 250 RVs for hurricane victims in Florida. Last month, it sent 15 to tornado victims in Wisconsin.

But Hurricane Katrina is placing demands much larger than even Lakeshore can handle.

Sobczak said the government will need 40,000 trailers. And he's waiting to see if Lakeshore can supply another 300 RVs that insurance companies have requested.

"This disaster, in our eyes, is three to four times that of Florida," Sobczak said. "This is a great cause. You feel helpless, but we're trying to help in our own way."

You can reach Tenisha Mercer at (313) 222-2401 or tmercer@detnews.com.