Two Saskatoon families have one more reason to be thankful this holiday weekend thanks to the support of two local companies.
An initiative by Lennox Industries called Feel the Love worked over the morning hours on Saturday to install two new furnaces for people in the community that need a helping hand.
Teaming up with the crew at Pro Mechanical Services, Lennox held a month of nominations in advance of Saturday’s install date to allow people to put forth a person in their neighbourhood that could greatly benefit from having a new furnace.
Hilda Legge certainly fits the bill. She has been living on her home in Mayfair since she and her husband built the home 57 years ago. Accompanying them the entire time is the trustworthy furnace that’s been in the basement since day one.
Her daughter Brenda Yuzdepski is breathing a sigh of relief knowing the old furnace will finally be replaced.
“(Legge) and my dad built this house in 1961 and it’s the original furnace,” she said. “So you never know if there’s going to be a crack in their air exchange, and carbon monoxide or anything like that.”
“It allows them to stay in the house longer and knowing that they’re safer — it lets (family) sleep a little better every night.”
Cam Yelenik is a territory manager with Lennox and was proud to replace Legge’s furnace ahead of turkey day. To him, acts of generosity is what this weekend is all about.
“Our motto is ‘neighbours helping neighbours’, and really as a company, it’s about giving back to the community,” he said after visiting with Legge and her family.
“We never do enough for our community and it’s just a wonderful experience.”
Due to the extensive nature of ripping out a furnace four times the size of the one that was being installed, and the rewiring of components, Yelenik estimated a project like this would typically cost a person between $4,000 and $5,000.
The added significance of coordinating everything ahead of Thanksgiving enhances Yelenik’s community spirit.
“This is our second year now in Saskatoon and we’re really just trying to help out people in need. It seems like an ideal weekend to give back to the community,” he said. ”
“I’m thankful for being here and having wonderful companies like we do have helping out with these installs. It’s just a good weekend to give back.”