Comfort Generation and the LII Lennox Foundation Show Their Love for a Local Family by Donating Essential Cooling and Heating Equipment
Comfort Generation is proud to be one of the Lehigh Valley’s leading HVAC companies, and equally passionate about their desire to give back to the community that has long supported them.
This October, the Emmaus-based company partnered with the LII Lennox Foundation to install a high-efficiency heating and air conditioning system free of charge in the home of a deserving family in the region.
It’s Comfort Generation’s first year as a participant in Lennox’s Feel the Love campaign, which seeks to assist people who need a little helping hand and also deserve a big “thank you” for their commitment to service. Previous recipients have included community heroes and leaders, veterans, senior citizens in older homes and resilient families facing hardship and struggling to safely heat and cool their homes.
This year’s recipient of a new heating and cooling system is the Bankas family of Macungie. The family includes Jillian and Ryan and their two biological children, ages 12 and 8, and a young foster daughter who has been with them for three and a half years.
The family was nominated by The Kindness Project, an Emmaus nonprofit serving youth in foster care and the families who open their hearts and homes to them. Jillian and Ryan Bankas, who have worked with The Kindness Project for several years, are described as “always kind and respectful, and do the hard work of opening their hearts and home to a child who has come from a very hard place.”
This summer they had a miserable few days when their air conditioning broke during one of the biggest heat waves, and at the same time struggled with two kids at home with pneumonia. The family had put off replacing the 20-year-old HVAC system, favoring a series of inexpensive fixes which just prolonged the inevitable need to replace it. And because they didn’t know where the money would come from to cover the expense, their stress level grew.
When approached by The Kindness Project about the opportunity to receive a new heating and cooling system through the Feel the Love program, Jillian and Ryan hesitated, believing there were probably other families in worse situations who were more deserving of the donation.
“That’s the kind of folks they are!” said The Kindness Project when they nominated the family to the program.“While it is stressful for them to think about the cost of having to replace their system, they wouldn’t consider themselves needy, and they do not receive any government assistance. They are just an average family trying to figure out how to pay for everything.”
The Bankases have been licensed foster parents with the Salvation Army Children’s Services for over four years, and have just taken the first steps in the process to formally adopt the five-year-old they’ve fostered for three and a half years.
“As a vital member of their family for all this time, they are excited to be making it official soon,” says The Kindness Project. “As a toddler the girl was removed from her biological family and moved around a couple of times before she came to them. They can finally tell her that she never has to be moved again! Now that she is five years old and starting to understand more about her story, they are honored and grateful to be able to tell her they are adopting her.”
When she learned her family had been selected to receive a new heating and cooling system, Jillian Bankas was both honored and humbled. In thanking The Kindness Project for the nomination, she said: “Since we became foster parents, they have provided so much support to us, as they continue to do for so many children in foster care and their families.”
She also had these words for those whose donation of equipment and installation made it all possible: “We are incredibly grateful to Lennox for this program and for providing the equipment to make this a reality. And we want to send a huge thanks to Comfort Generation for selecting us and for their selfless donation of their time and labor. Words cannot express how much this means to us. We are absolutely in shock and so very grateful to be the recipients of such a huge blessing that relieves this burden on our family.”
The installation of the new heating and cooling system at the Banks home occurred on October 10. Their much-needed upgrade comes from the Merit Series, Lennox’s line of products that sets the Lennox standard of excellence, and comes complete with an extended warranty.
As is true for the Bankas family, the gift of a new heating and cooling system for many program recipients goes beyond physical comfort. According to the LII Lennox Foundation: “It brings peace of mind and a renewed sense of dignity. No longer burdened by the worry of how to afford essential home comfort, recipients can focus on other pressing needs, such as providing for their families or focusing on their health needs.”
The gift of a new HVAC system also brings with it the benefit of long-term impact to the environment and energy bills, as recipients’ energy usage can be reduced by approximately 30-40 percent.
Since 2009, the Feel the Love program has made possible over 2,300 installations in 43 U.S. states and Canadian Provinces with $12.6 million in donated materials.
For more information on the program and how to make a nomination, visit feelthelove.com.
This post is a sponsored collaboration between Comfort Generation and Lehigh Valley Style.
