Donner-Springs Storage has an interesting beginning...

 

In the early morning hours on October 9th, 2017 there were 3 separate, very large fires raging through Wine Country in Northern California, little did Charles Lindner and Alyssa Kutzer know that that night would not only end their careers but change their lives forever.  Charles was the Director of Operations and Alyssa was the Director of Development and Marketing at Meals on Wheels. As both Charles and Alyssa made it to the office (with their families in tow) their collective houses were burning to the ground. Neither of them had anywhere else to go, so they went to the one place that they both spent countless hours helping the elderly. 

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By the end of this horrifically tragic day, Charles, his wife and their daughter piled into their car and drove to Washington state where they have since remained. Together, they slowly started rebuilding their lives the best they could in a town they didn't know, with no jobs, all the while trying to heal from this life altering tragedy.

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Alyssa meanwhile, stayed on with Meals on Wheels for a couple more months desperately trying to figure out what to do with this new reality she had been handed. The house she raised her 3 boys in, the house she laughed and danced in, celebrated birthdays, holidays, friend gatherings and so much more was forever gone. She decided to stay and rebuild with her youngest college bound son. 6 weeks prior to the rebuild she had a massive landslide which then once and for all made it impossible to ever rebuild. Like Charles and his family, Alyssa packed up the few things she had after the landslide and left California forever driving to Oregon.

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During these months of chaos and indecision, Charles and Alyssa stayed in contact. They both knew they worked very well together and had a great respect for the other when it came to business. Gradually they started talking about the possibility of starting some sort of company. Many ideas were tossed around over a couple of years with no concrete conclusion as to what interested both of them. Then in 2021, Alyssa decided she was going to backpack the entire length of the Pacific Crest Trail, 2,650 miles. In preparation of this she needed to find a storage unit for her belongings as it was going to take 6 months to complete the hike. To Alyssa's surprise storage units were tough to come by, every place she called was full with a waiting list. A light bulb went off in her head and she excitedly called Charles to say she thought she had come up with the perfect business.  Long story short this is when the Donner-Springs storage business was born!  Donner was the name of the street Alyssa's house was on, while Springs was the street Charles and his family lived on. It seemed the perfect tribute to name their new business after the precious homes they will always fondly remember.

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