Businesses Give Back To Invictus Academy For Challenged Students

NEW PORT RICHEY, FL — It’s always a great time to give back, but nothing beats giving a life-changing donation to children the week of Thanksgiving.

City Electric Supply's New Port Richey branch members and other volunteers spent 11 hours on Saturday, Nov. 21, replacing 104 lights for a nonprofit that teaches students with motor and sensory differences.

With their help, a job that would have cost $4,000 or more was completed for free.

City Electric Supply's New Port Richey outside sales representative Bob Schultz said the school’s energy costs were cut in half by replacing the existing fluorescent lamps with LED tubes that provided the school with dimmer, white light that wouldn't bother the students' eyes.

“There were 52 fixtures – two lamps in each fixture. For material, labor and recycling all the fluorescent lamps, it would have cost $4,000 or more,” said Schultz. “It was a total team effort. Hopefully this gets others to step up and help a great cause.”

It all began when Schultz received a call from an Invictus Academy Tampa Bay employee inquiring about lighting solutions because the bright lights in the school were bothering the children.

“I went up to look at the lighting they had. They had old fluorescent and bags over them to help with the lighting. Even the ballast was old, and the humming was bothering them as well,” said Schultz. “I recommended LED tubes to take care of the buzzing and bright lights. When I mentioned it to her and let her know of the cost, that was when it started.”

“We’re a small nonprofit with big needs, and the day that Bob Schultz came out to look at what I thought would be a very simple thing, he basically said that we needed to overhaul our fixtures before we could even get to the lamps,” said Jennifer Mulry, co-director of Invictus Academy Tampa Bay at 1350 East Lake Road N., Tarpon Springs. “It was quite disappointing, to say the least, because that’s not what I thought would be the case.”

What the school expected to be a minor issue turned out to be a costly fix, and they were forced to pass.

Luckily for them, that didn’t sit well with Schultz.

“It was the worst sales call I ever made in my life. I left feeling like a jerk. And they didn’t even have a maintenance man that could do it for them,” said Schultz. “I went to my next sales call to one of my big customers — Nick Ellis with Duckworth Welded Aluminum Boats of Tarpon Springs. He asked what was going on, and I told him. He instantly said that he’d donate his time to install all 104 lights if I could get them.”

“Even if there are 140 lights, somebody had to do something about it. I’m glad to help,” said Ellis. “We want to help the kids. With the pandemic and everything going on, people need to step up. Whatever we have to do, we’re going to do it.”

After getting the good news from Ellis, Schultz went back to the CES New Port Richey branch and made some calls. Keystone Technologies agreed to donate half of the lights and City Electric Supply district manager Dan Pippin agreed to donate the other half.

To his surprise, Schultz discovered the church that hosts the school is the one Pippin himself used to attend five years ago.

“I was excited to be able to help. The pastor that hosts the school also shared with me the need to fix the lighting and how it would significantly benefit and help the kids there,” said Pippin. “The current lighting was very poor, and CES had an opportunity to provide a serious upgrade to what they had.”

A few hours after leaving the academy disappointed, Schultz returned with the good news.

“It was a matter of hours before our landlord got the call that this would happen. It was shocking; this is terribly needed,” said Mulry. “We serve children with very specific visual sensitivities. The current lights are hard on everybody. Even us typical adults, within an hour of being in them, we want them off. They’re so tiring. For the kids to be able to visually work all day under these lights is very difficult, and I’m just so excited to see what’s about to happen. We couldn’t be more grateful.”

“This is significant because it’s going to support [the students] and the learning that will help them be successful,” said Invictus Academy Tampa Bay founder Dana Johnson. “To complete their schoolwork, to be able to reach their goals of graduation — it’s not just a change for today, it’s a big deal for the long run.”

“Alongside our students benefiting from this, our staff and teachers are as well,” said Invictus Academy Tampa Bay co-director Maddy Ishmael. “Due to COVID-19 and having virtual students, our teachers have a lot more on their plate. We know that the lights affect us, and we constantly want to turn them off. They exhaust us. Having soft lighting when they also have to be looking at their computers so often is going to be so beneficial to them and will help them get relaxation, so they’re able to teach.”

For students, the donation will make their school days much more productive and tolerable.

“There are times when our students become very dysregulated, and I feel that this is a piece of why they’re dysregulated,” said Johnson. “This is literally going to change every single day."

“Any time our students experience any type of dysregulation, the first thing we do is turn the lights off or we try to get our students outside as soon as possible to help. The lights are exhausting; the sound is exhausting,” said Ishmael. “Just being able to sit in the same room and not have to worry about changing the environment that much for regulation is important.”

The students were so grateful, they wrote a thank-you letter to the New Port Richey branch.

“I want to start calling this school 'Wonder School,'” wrote one student. “I am happy to call this place my home. I once thought no one would ever like me but now I have friends that make my experience so much loving. Now I am able to spell out my real thoughts I could not be any happier.”

“I don’t think they could have picked a better time. The word Thanksgiving says it all,” said Ellis. “I think CES has stepped up to the plate as a company. It’s what this community is all about. I couldn’t praise the CES New Port Richey branch enough for asking me to give them a hand. I get to sleep better at night for that.”

“It’s a blessing knowing that we can help those in need and help make life much better, not just the students but the staff and faculty,” said Pippin. “It feels great being part of a company that wants to give back to its community and customers.

Among those that helped make the lighting project happen were Pippin, Schultz, Ellis, CES New Port Richey branch manager Justin Torregrossa, Keystone Technologies and Scott Robbins with Metra Associates.

This article originally appeared on the New Port Richey Patch