Feel The Love
Hurlburt Heating & Plumbing has been serving Western Wisconsin for over 60 years, and when the opportunity arises, we enjoy giving back to the communities we serve.
For approximately a decade, Hurlburt has partnered with Lennox for the annual Feel the Love program (formerly known as Heat U.P. Wisconsin). Since the inaugural program in 2009, Lennox and its dealers have completed over 1,500 free furnace installations, with 210 of those in 2020 alone. Since then, Lennox and its dealers seek nominations from community members to deliver new, high efficiency furnaces at no cost to people who consistently put others before themselves, and need a helping hand.
#1 Dealer # E25550
This year, the process happened a bit differently. We received a call in August from Heather K., who explained that she had some friends who were out of town, and their AC had stopped working. The couples’ 19 year old son was home, and wasn’t sure what to do to get it running again. Having seen recommendations online, Heather gave Hurlburt Heating & Plumbing a call to see if we had a technician who could go look at the Juliots’ AC.
Heather explained that Jon and Tina were currently in Memphis at St. Jude Children’s Hospital with their daughter, Shannah, who had been admitted since January of this year. The Juliots had intended to replace their air conditioner this year, but under the circumstances, it got put off. Within an hour, we had a technician on site. Luckily, the issue was only a mouse that had taken up residence in the condenser, with a nice big fluffy insulation nest, with no wire damage.
Shannah was a freshman at Memorial High School, when she began having some issues with double vision. They figured they’d make an eye doctor appointment, but had fallen at school in mid-January due to compromised depth perception. Tina made an appointment for Shannah at Mayo, and it was discovered that she had over triple the normal pressure behind one eye. She was sent to the ER, and ended up in Rochester that evening. A tumor the size of a clementine was discovered at her brain stem, pressing on the optic nerve.
Initially, doctors didn’t believe the tumor to be cancerous. Then, a whirlwind of discussions of chemo and radiation surrounded the Juliots, and the news that their 14-year-old had brain cancer- meduloblastoma- hit hard. Shannah underwent two surgeries to remove the tumor. A family from the Juliots’ church reached out to them, as their daughter had gone through the same cancer four years prior. They recommended St. Jude’s in Memphis for pediatric cancer care. Care for the house fell to 19-year-old Carson, Shannah’s brother, while his parents and sister went to Memphis.
“We’ve donated to the [St. Jude] telethons over the years, but never expected to need a room here,” Jon stated. “It’s really an incredible place.”
Shannah underwent six weeks of radiation in Memphis, then spent a month at home this spring, before returning to Memphis for chemo treatments over the course of four months. She spent her 15th birthday at St. Jude’s. With an ongoing pandemic, concern for Shannah’s immune system was at the forefront. She fought a number of infections during her treatment, and on October 1, Shannah was able to come home.
On October 9, a team of volunteers from Hurlburt Heating & Plumbing visited the Juliots’ home, and installed a new, high efficiency Lennox furnace and air conditioning system. Spirits were high and smiles were plentiful throughout the day. We appreciate the opportunity to give back to our community, and feel that the Juliot family was a well-deserving recipient for the 2021 Feel the Love program.
