CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Ever since they moved into their new warehouse on Paradise Hill Road, YAIPAK Outreach volunteers have diligently worked year-round to sort through donations, connecting generous givers with people in need, including veterans, foster children, disaster victims and the homeless.
But their 30,000-square-foot facility has had no air conditioning, so they’ve worked through the cold and the heat, and the heat got pretty extreme this summer.
Industrial Development Board Executive Director Josh Ward visited the warehouse in July and noticed how hot it was inside, despite the staff keeping the doors closed and running fans in the near-100-degree heat.
Ward contacted Trane – Clarksville’s second-largest employer and oldest industrial company – and let them know about the situation. Trane officials decided to not just help, but to make a massive donation of five industrial AC units, valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars, to heat and cool the 30,000-square-foot warehouse year-round.
Friday morning, they used cranes to lower the five units onto the YAIPAK warehouse.
“We would like to say thank you to everybody involved for their extreme generosity and kindness,” said YAIPAK founder Sherry Nicholson. “We are very humbled and very overwhelmed at the support from Trane. It is an absolute mission-changer for us.
“When the warehouse is triple digits in the summer we lose volunteers. No one has ever complained and no one has ever asked. Teams have faithfully served while we try to keep them hydrated.” Nicholson said the faithfulness has now been rewarded “with incredible compassion and generosity.”
“Them being willing to install a unit like this means not just an impact to our program but an impact to those who help keep the programs going. Honestly, I don’t know if there’s enough words to express how big this is and how grateful we are,” she said.
Leo Millan, chief member of Millan Enterprises, donated the building to YAIPAK in 2022.
“When you see an organization like YAIPAK doing meaningful work and making a real impact, you want to help them keep moving forward,” Millan told Clarksville Now. “Trane’s donation of these HVAC units does exactly that, giving their team one more resource to continue serving our community and carrying out their mission.”
Christian Brown contributed to this report.
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