Cherokee Technology Center seniors Dustin Moss, William Wilson and Julian Fowler look over the new heating and air conditioning equipment recently donated to their class by Carrier/Bryant. Christmas arrived early for Cherokee Technology Center students enrolled in the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) program.

Carrier/Bryant of the Carolinas in Columbia recently donated $10,000 in HVAC equipment to the Cherokee Technology Center. The vocational school's HVAC program received seven heating and air conditioning units, high efficiency gas furnaces and package units.

The company even paid for the cost of shipping the brand new equipment to the vocational school. The equipment was delivered two weeks ago.

"I couldn't afford to buy this. These are the latest models on the market," heating and air conditioning instructor Andy Dunn said. "This is the equipment the kids will be working on when they go into the heating and air conditioning field. We are in the process of installing the equipment so we can begin using it as a teaching tool this year."

Dunn found out about the possibility of receiving donated equipment from Carrier/Bryant last fall while attending a South Carolina HVAC Contractors Association event.

Joey Henderson, a sales manager for Carrier/Bryant, informed the HVAC instructors at the meeting that his company could donate equipment for use in their classrooms. The devices are brand new models with minor defects such as dents and scratches that prevent them from being sold.

The Cherokee Technology Center teacher sent a thankyou letter on the school letterhead and filled out an in-kind donation form. He sent the letter to Carrier/Bryant in January.

"I started receiving equipment from the company a couple of months later. I felt like a kid at Christmas," Dunn said. "We are really appreciative of Carrier/Bryant for donating this equipment to our classroom. This will be a great way for our students to learn about how the latest models work and study the differences between newer and older heating and air conditioning equipment."

Cherokee Technology Center is among several schools to receive donated HVAC equipment recently from Carrier/Bryant. The company recently delivered similar equipment to Greenville Technical College.

"There is a possibility we could receive additional equipment from Carrier/Bryant next year," Dunn said.