A great American, with a tool box

This is a story about a plumber, no wise cracks. (Pardon the pun.)

While most of us just stared dumbly at the crazy cold that brought Texas to its knees, turning out the lights and bursting the water pipes, Andrew Mitchell was spurred to action.

He reacted when he saw a call for help from plumbers in the Lone Star State on Facebook.

Because plumbing supplies — such as copper tubes and plastic pipes — had been cleaned out, he loaded his pickup truck with about $2,000 worth of materials, and left for the 22-hour drive from his Morristown, N.J., home to Houston.

Along for the ride was his wife Kisha, their 2-year-old son Blake, and Kisha’s brother Isiah, a college student.

Andrew and Isiah worked from sunup to sundown repairing the plumbing in dozens of homes before running out of the supplies they brought.

Andrew’s odyssey was noticed by some news outlets, and I saw it on NBC.

We are accustomed to stories about first responders leaving home to help others in emergencies. Plumbers parachuting in was new to me and my feeling was that Andrew Mitchell is a great American, proving one person can make a difference.

With help from Google I got the address of his company, Mitchell Plumbing and Heating (which has great customer reviews): 247 Speedwell Ave., Morristown, N.J., 07960. 

I sent him a note, thanking him for not just caring, but acting. You can, too, if you want.