A warm gesture: All-Air donates heating, air system to Lodi House Thrift Store
When the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system stopped working at the Lodi House Thrift Store, it was just one of many projects that needed to be addressed at the site of the Lodi House women’s shelter’s nonprofit business.
The Thrift Store serves as one of the major ways that the Lodi House can fund its pro- grams and depends on the donations of community members and sales from it’s store.
The nonprofit offers shelter to women and children and gives them the resources to get employed and back on their feet.
Bids for the replacement of the 30-year-old HVAC system proved to be very costly, coming in at about $ 7,000 to $8,000.
However, All- Air Heating and Air Conditioning stepped up to provide and install a brand new Lennox package HVAC unit for Lodi House Thrift Store free of charge on Monday.
“We’re so blessed by their generosity, especially since we are trying to work at improving the store,” said Shelby Young, director of Lodi House.
The store had been closed for several months last year as Lodi House worked to reorganize the store and create a better system for receiving and sorting donations and improving the building and property.
All-Air was able to get the free unit from an anonymous donor, as well as the services of a crane company that they frequently work with — Anderson Crane of Lodi — to hoist it up onto the roof and bring the old, beat-up unit down.
The process of moving the HVAC systems took only a matter of minutes, but the careful installation took several hours as workers connected the new unit.
Dennis Meredith of Independent Inspection Service donated his time in testing the existing duct work.
Rick Garcia, the comfort advisor at All-Air, was out helping with installation and said he had worked on the initial bid and approached his boss about doing something to help out Lodi House Thrift Store.
“We wanted to give back to them and do good for the community,” said All- Air CEO Kevin Gutierrez, who personally knew people who have worked with the Lodi House Thrift Store. The stories of the many women overcoming hardships with the help of the nonprofit inspired him to help.
The donation was not a first for All- Air, as they have in the past offered charitable services to seniors in need, Gutierrez said.
Young was appreciative of the donation, which she described as a rare gesture among building maintenance-type services, especially since the work they do with volunteers and donations in the thrift shop goes back in full to Lodi House.
Contact reporter Christina Cornejo at christinac@lodinews.com.