South Philly Review

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Living in South Philadelphia prevents residents from ever feeling the direct impact of an earthquake. Though tremors may never trouble their homes, they can hurt their hearts, building sadness for the affected population. Domenic Nigro and Lisa Bruemmer have looked beyond despondency, using their businesses to acquire aid for the victims of last month’s Tohoku earthquake and tsunami.

Their backgrounds and occupations differ greatly, but Nigro and Bruemmer know that every day since a 9.0-magnitude undersea megathrust earthquake rocked Japan March 11 has heightened their interest in humanitarian efforts. The largest earthquake in the country’s history and, according to the United States Geological Survey, the world’s fourth biggest since 1900, the event and the subsequent tsunami have claimed 13,392 lives and left 15,133 people missing — figures expected to rise as officials deal with aftershocks while conducting their already burdened searches, according to the National Police Agency of Japan.

“It’s not about what you do with your life; it’s how you live it,” Nigro, owner of Nigro’s Auto Body, 939-41 Washington Ave., said. “If more people would say, ‘I matter, I can make a difference,’ we would really change the world.”

The 34-year-old Packer Park resident is aiming to make his difference by raising at least $5,000 by month’s end. He is asking customers to donate up to half of their deductible, the amount insured parties pay for repairs or replacement of a damaged vehicle prior to insurance companies starting their coverage for the loss, to his establishment. The funds then will reach the American Red Cross, which will send them off to the world’s 10th-most-populated land.

“I’m all about turning a negative into a positive,” Nigro said of his month-old project.

He conceived it soon after the devastating duo began altering the lives of the Japanese and alarming the global community. The tsunami’s waves, many hitting heights up to 124 feet, targeted many countries, including the United States, where California and Oregon witnessed damage to docks and harbors. The venture continues a call to philanthropy for Nigro, who wants eventually to assist one charity per month.

“My interest in contributing has intensified in the last year,” Nigro, who has funded research for juvenile diabetes and whose current wiper blades sales guarantee 10 percent of proceeds to breast cancer awareness, said.

The alumnus of Holy Spirit School, 1845 Hartranft St., and the former St. John Neumann High School, 2600 Moore St., prides himself on his ethics and sees ridding people of anxiety as a recipe for happiness.

“I felt so bad about not helping Haiti and Chile,” he said in reference to last year’s victims of historic rumbling. “I hate that the Japanese have to go through such turmoil, so I am acting to grant them some relief.”

Nigro had originally desired to pick recipients to assist, yearning to help women and children the most, yet deferred to the Red Cross to channel the distribution. He doesn’t know any Japanese residents, but the disaster has made the whole country dearer to his heart. He does not expect the Nobel Peace Prize, but Nigro is happy to be a leader.

“Leaders have to be leaders, especially in dire times,” he said. “I don’t want to be known as ‘the body shop guy.’ I want to be known as the guy who gets involved, who focuses on the business of helping people.”

Bruemmer found herself speechless when first learning of the destruction. The 28-year-old Cincinnati native runs a small business, Tree and Kimball, through her residence on the 900 block of Tree Street. Being a former Midwesterner, she has familiarity with floods but with nothing as wrenching as the Japan ruination.

“I saw the devastating scenes, and they were sort of hard for me to comprehend over here,” she said. “However, I wanted to do any small thing I could to help.”

An alumnus of the University of Cincinnati, Bruemmer earned a degree in fashion design. Following graduation, she moved to Philadelphia to further her career with Anthropologie, a 19-year-old women’s apparel and accessory chain headquartered in The Philadelphia Navy Yard at 5000 S. Broad St. She eventually settled into her Lower Moyamensing abode with her husband Travis Drake three years ago.

As “a small hobby,” she complemented her design career by making necklaces and earrings out of vintage lace and findings. Contentment with her secondary creative endeavor made her reconsider her priorities, leading to the formation of her home-based undertaking.

“I wanted something creative that could be my own project,” Bruemmer said of beginning her business in January 2009.

A lifetime lover and collector of lace, she has placed products throughout the United States, as well as in Canada, Indonesia and the People’s Republic of China. She counts customers in Japan, too, but knows nobody from the distraught domain. Realizing its people are languishing, she elected to offer 20 percent of one week’s sales to the relief efforts. It netted $125, which she plans to augment with a $25 donation.

“It was encouraging to see that people saw the offer as an incentive to make a purchase,” Bruemmer, who cited her involvement as one of her first forays into humanitarianism, said. “I would like to do more because the Japanese need ongoing support.”

The Red Cross oversaw the handling of her gathered funds, offering Bruemmer, who hand dyes more than 70 items, a measure of satisfaction over having chosen action over pity.