The AHR Expo has donated $22,500 to Opportunity Village, a nonprofit organization that serves children and adults with intellectual disabilities in southern Nevada.

The donation will support HVAC and refrigeration upgrades, as well as new equipment purchases at three existing locations and one new campus location.  

“At its core, AHR Expo exemplifies all the ways in which HVACR can contribute toward making the world a more pleasant and productive place,” said Clay Stevens, president of International Exposition Co., which is managing the show. “We are proud to be able to extend this sentiment through donations to the HVACR needs of worthy organizations and particularly those located right in the backyard of each year’s show. With 2017’s donation, Opportunity Village receives the chance to increase its capacity to help Nevada’s disabled citizens, upgrading and expanding existing facilities that provide them with valuable support services from teaching life skills to providing social recreation, to offering vocational and career-oriented training.”

The money, which comes from the contest’s entry fees, will be applied toward transforming all of the nonprofit’s campus sites. One center will get new thermostats and various HVAC system retrofit work.

“Opportunity Village is a primarily self-funded, not-for-profit organization and is the largest of its kind in Nevada,” said Cary Harned, senior grants and major gifts officer at Opportunity Village. “The Oakey campus is home to most of our special fundraising events that support the programs and services we provide, and is just one part of an entire set of sites that require HVACR retrofits to better suit the clients and our events.”

As part of the submission process, each year AHR Expo officials donate the entry fees in full to a charitable organization in a region near that year’s show.

“We are incredibly grateful to the AHR Expo for their support of our organization,” Harned said. “Every penny and in-kind donation counts when it comes to ensuring our clients are provided with the best facilities, programs, services and staff we can give them. We welcome this gift from the AHR Expo to provide amenities that will truly enhance our clients’ lives.”