Bellhops offers free help for seniors on August 21

Company is also rolling out fleet of box trucks in select cities

Bellhops, which uses college students to offer low-cost moving help, received the biggest one-time venture capital investment of any Chattanooga startup company to spread to other markets.
Bellhops, which uses college students to offer low-cost moving help, received the biggest one-time venture capital investment of any Chattanooga startup company to spread to other markets.
photo Bellhops, which uses college students to offer low-cost moving help, received the biggest one-time venture capital investment of any Chattanooga startup company to spread to other markets.

If you're over the age of 65 and in need of a helping hand with heavy objects around the house, mark your calendar for Sunday, Aug. 21, because Bellhops has you covered.

For the second year in a row, the Chattanooga-based moving company is offering two of its college-age movers to senior citizens in Bellhop-served cities free of charge for one hour, in celebration of National Senior Citizens Day.

The Bellhops program will lend a total $25,000 worth of free labor to older folks across the country who either need things moved, or maybe a hand with an odd job.

Cameron Doody, co-founder and president at Bellhops, said the senior citizen program "was kind of an off-the-cuff promo we did" last year, but the response was overwhelmingly positive. And Doody said of all the special promotions the company offered last year, Senior Citizens Day was the biggest hit.

"It ended up being something that was really cool," he said.

Bellhops typically specializes in moving customers from one place to another, but on Senior Citizens Day a year ago, reports came in from Bellhops movers all over that many elderly customers simply needed help with chores around the house.

There was a lot of rearranging furniture, cleaning up garages and carrying things up and down stairs, said Doody, who said he "got emotional just reading some of our customer reviews."

Senior citizens can request free help on Aug. 21 through the Bellhops website at www.getbellhops.com or over the phone by calling 888-836-3939, and must provide the coupon code "SeniorDay2016."

Requests for free help must be made on Aug. 21 - but after successfully reserving help on the actual day of the promotion, work can take place at any time in the future.

Truck service is not included in the promotional, and after one hour is complete, Bellhops will begin charging the standard rate of $40 per mover per hour. Additional travel fees may apply.

Doody said the company closely vets its hires, and knows safety is a priority with the senior citizen program.

He said Bellhops movers are "athletic current college students attending four-year universities."

"In this case, we're providing strapping grandkids, on tap," he said.

Box truck beta program

Out of its main office at Warehouse Row, Bellhops currently commands a national network of more than 1,000 movers. In Chattanooga alone, Bellhops employs more than 100 movers.

Doody said soon, Chattanooga will be one of nice cities where the company rolls out Bellhop box trucks, expanding the company's services and making it a one-stop shop for customers making a move. The move builds on the recent extension of services, in which Bellhops - for an additional fee - would take care of renting, driving, loading, unloading and returning a moving truck for customers.

The difference is going forward, Bellhops will own its own moving trucks and provide completely in-house, end-to-end moving services.

Doody said Chattanooga residents will begin seeing the new box trucks soon.

Contact staff writer Alex Green at agreen@timesfree press.com or 423-757-6480.

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