• Johnson Controls, Make-a-Wish Foundation Help Toddler

    Dec. 1, 2006
    The Luxaire brand of Johnson Controls is helping a toddler with a life threatening medical condition breathe easier with the donation of an energy efficient

    The Luxaire brand of Johnson Controls is helping a toddler with a life threatening medical condition breathe easier with the donation of an energy efficient Luxaire air conditioner and fuel efficient gas furnace.
    Everett L, a Wish Child from Fullerton, CA, has mitochondrial encephalopathy, an illness that makes him have frequent seizures and global developmental delay, in addition to being very susceptible to lung infections. By installing a new HVAC system, Everett will be more comfortable and not as prone to getting lung infections.
    “This child is two-and-a-half years old, and he is blind and not communicative,” says Amy Justiniano, wish coordinator with the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Orange County and Inland Empire in Tustin, CA. “He can’t talk, and he can’t see, and he can’t crawl, walk or sit-up. The doctors are only giving him a couple more months to live, so they just wanted him to be home as much as possible, so he doesn’t have to go to the hospital.”
    “The air conditioner and furnace that were installed will help Everett to breathe easier by incorporating an air filtration system,” says Tim Lashar, Luxaire brand manager for Johnson Controls. “These units are extremely quiet, and the air quality will contribute to making Everett more comfortable.”
    Ron Newcomb, president of NCO Air Systems, Inc., has been a contractor for more than 20 years and volunteered to install the Luxaire HVAC system, because Make-A-Wish is close to his heart. In 2000, Newcomb donated and installed the HVAC system at the Make-A-Wish Foundation® of Orange County.
    “I like helping kids in need, because I’ve been there,” says Newcomb.
    Newcomb’s son, who is now 14-years-old, is a former Wish Child, who had a wish granted when he was 7-years-old.
    It took two days for Newcomb and his crew of four technicians to install the new HVAC system. Newcomb and his team were happy to give something back to the community. “It was so ironic how this all took place,” says Newcomb.
    “We appreciate Ron’s willingness to volunteer his company’s service to install the HVAC system,” says Lashar.
    “Although Ron normally installs other brands, we both realized that helping Everett was more important. Ron has seen the power of granting a wish firsthand, and working together on this project has been very rewarding. We weren’t about to let the fact we hadn’t done business together before get in the way of doing something special.”
    Burke Engineering, the local Luxaire distributor, was also instrumental in getting the equipment to the jobsite. Lashar noted Burke has raised thousands of dollars locally for Make-a-Wish, in addition to contributing to the corporate support Luxaire provides.
    Luxaire has a network of distributors and dealers nationwide that are committed to the partnership with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which has been going strong since the fall of 2001. Luxaire dealers and distributors around the country work with their local Make-A-Wish Foundation chapters to organize their own fundraising activities, such as the Make-A-Wish Foundation nights at minor league ballparks.
    The Make-A-Wish Foundation grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy. It is the largest wish-granting charity in the world, with 71 chapters in the United States and its territories and 27 international affiliates on five continents. With the help of generous donors and more than 25,000 volunteers, the Make-A-Wish Foundation has granted wishes to children around the world since 1980.
    For more information about the Luxaire, visit www.luxaire.com. For more information about the Make-A-Wish Foundation, visit www.wish.org.