August 17, 2026: On a recent blisteringly hot day, an air-conditioning technician responded to an emergency call in Fresno, Calif. What Ethan Hernandez from Costless Plumbing, Heating and Air Conditioning saw there told him the old couple really needed help and deserved it too.
It was over 100 degrees and the couple’s air conditioning was not working and could not be fixed. A new one would cost $12,000. For a couple on a fixed income and with money already tight, they would never be able to afford a new unit, Ethan thought.
Homeowner Hazel Hayes told Ethan that her husband, a veteran, had just beaten cancer, but the hospital bills were still piling up. The couple spent all their money just to buy food and other necessities.
“We’re right on the edge of falling off the cliff,” Hazel told FOX 26 News. “Every bit of money is going to just get some food on the table.”
After learning all that, Ethan then watched Hazel try to gather cash to pay the $95 fee for the service call. She eventually had to pay with a credit card.
Family’s “Costless” Company Answers Call
Ethan worried for the couple. He knew they needed a new AC unit in the scorching Fresno heat, and all he could do was tell them. He decided to call his brother, Nathan, the operations manager at Ethan’s employer, Costless Plumbing, Heating and Air Conditioning.
Ethan related the story of his call on the couple.
“This service call kind of pulled on his heartstrings because, one thing about Ethan, he’s a very caring individual,” Nathan reflected later.
So, Nathan told their father, Angel, the company’s CEO. Angel had an immediate solution: Just replace it at no charge. In other words, costless to the couple.
“They’re an elderly couple on a fixed income, and, especially, he’s a veteran,” Angel said. “Anytime I hear elderly, anytime I hear fixed income, and I hear, especially, a veteran, somebody that’s given so much to our country, it’s almost an obligation that we got to help.”
On a day when it was 105 to 108 degrees in the region, and the inside of the couple’s home was headed toward 100 degrees, the Costless crew got to work.
Hazel was shocked.
“Oh! It’s a blessing, plus a miracle. Plus, a wow!,” she said. “I didn’t know those things still happened.”
The Bright Side
The Epistle of James teaches that compassion means little if it does not meet someone’s practical needs. Ethan noticed a need; his family listened, and they put faith into action. James 2:26: For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.
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