April 2, 2014

Applewood Keeps Children Safe + Warm

The sun may be shining now, but a few short weeks ago winter was still upon us. During that cold spell Applewood Plumbing Heating & Electric replaced a furnace at a nonprofit education center free-of-charge, eliminating risk of the center closing its doors on more than 70 children in the middle of winter.  Lack of heat forced two Denver County schools to close their doors early in February of this year, a fate the Children’s Outreach Project of Denver was close to facing without knowing it.

The Children’s Outreach Project is a nonprofit school aimed at providing education to typical, accelerated and developmentally delayed children in the Denver Metro area. An outdated building causes challenges for the organization. Alisha Williams, Development associate for Children’s Outreach, said, “When it comes to our budget we are constantly prioritizing needs and what that means for our facility most of the time is that we fix it when it breaks.”

An Applewood technician was at the school for a regular service call when he noticed the organization’s furnace was old and may be in dire need of repair. Williams, afraid of the program having to close its doors on short notice, decided replacing the heater would be a priority. It was an expensive project that the program had not budgeted for.

“We are always trying to be good citizens and neighbors by helping the communities we work in,” said John Ward, president of Applewood Plumbing Heating & Electric. “There is a great deal of personal satisfaction felt across our entire company when we are able to come together and help those in need.”

Williams started reaching out to local companies about the work that needed to be done. Applewood heard Williams’ pleas and went a step further, donating and installing a furnace completely free-of-charge. The gift from Applewood allowed Children’s Outreach to continue serving kids with a huge weight lifted from their shoulders.

“They shouldn’t have to worry about heat with all they are doing for these children,” said Ward. “They can focus on what they do best and we were able to put our expertise to work in a rewarding way.”

Children’s Outreach Project is a previous recipient of Applewood’s “Caring Community Giveaway” where a local charity is chosen monthly at random to receive a $1,000 contribution.  Since receiving the contribution, they have continued their relationship with the company.

Williams said, “It was fantastic, I was so happy with how everything worked out,” when asked about the experience of replacing the furnace.