Members of the New Jersey Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors Association recently were involved in a “Homes for Our Troops” project to build a specially adapted home for a severely injured war veteran and his family.

Chapter members donated key supplies and financing needed to complete the home for Staff Sgt. Andrew Robinson, who was injured in an IED attack in Iraq. Robinson sustained compound fractures to his lower legs, collapsed lungs, and a fractured vertebrae that left him paralyzed from the chest down with partial paralysis in his arms.

The project had special meaning to the chapter, as Robinson’s father used to be an employee of PHCC member company Frank Perlstein & Son, Trenton, N.J.

“When his father Bill approached me to see if we can get anything donated, I definitely wanted to do something,” said Sue Perlstein Tavares. “Then when I took the list of needed donations to a PHCC chapter, it felt so good when the whole list was taken care of in a matter of minutes. Everyone wanted to help out someone who had risked his life for our country and also had a connection to our industry.”

PHCC members donating to the project were:

• Ken Alexander, Alexander Plumbing, Heating and A/C , Princeton - black pipe and fittings.

• Kevin Dolan, Dalton Electric, Plumbing, Heating and Cooling, North Brunswick - $500 donation.

• Mike Dolan, Jack Dolan & Sons, Somerset - black pipe and fittings.

• Frank Maddalon, F.R. Maddalon Plumbing & Heating, Hamilton Township - PVC pipe and fittings.

• Sue P. Tavares, Frank Perlstein & Son, Trenton - copper fittings.

• Kevin Tindall, Tindall & Ranson , Princeton- copper pipe.

The new single-story frame house, which is nearing completion, is located in Florence Township. It will be fully wheelchair-accessible for Robinson, who will live there with his wife Sara.

Homes for Our Troops is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) organization that assists severely injured servicemen and women and their immediate families by raising donations of money, building materials, and professional labor, and coordinating the process of building a new home or adapting an existing home for accessibility. For more information, visit www.homesforourtroops.org.

Publication date:09/01/2008