Jennifer Tatom, center, received a free furnace installed by Andrew Morlan, left, J.J. Vaughan, center left, Jim Morlan, center right, and Bryan Stanley of Dave’s Services through the Free Furnace Installation Program.
Matt Clevenger | Miami Valley Today
By Matt Clevenger
WEST MILTON — West Milton resident Jennifer Tatom says she was in disbelief when she heard she had been selected to receive a free furnace from Dave’s Services through the company’s annual Free Furnace Installation program.
“I just couldn’t believe it,” Tatom said. “We’re just grateful and blessed that we got picked.”
“These are my Christmas angels,” she said. “This group of guys is amazing; they go above and beyond.”
Tatom was in need of heat due to her furnace needing replacement, despite having recently passed several home inspections.
“We just recently bought the house,” she said. “As a first-time homebuyer, I’ve never had to deal with anything like this.”
The free furnace, valued at approximately $6,000, was installed on Thursday, Dec. 28.
Dave’s Services first started the Free Furnace Installation Program in 2011, as a way to give back to the local community.
“The free furnace installation was just kind of invented,” Manager of Sales and Operations Jim Morlan said. “We’re out in people’s houses day in and day out. We knew there’s always people who are in need of heat, but we also knew there’s people out there who were going through hard times and needed heat and couldn’t necessarily afford having their furnace replaced.”
“This will be the fourteenth free furnace we’ve put in through the free furnace installation program,” he said. “This is going to be the thirteenth year, and one year we did two free furnaces.”
Those in need of help with heat encouraged to apply for the Free Furnace Program online, at Dave’s Services website, or in-person at the company’s office located at 430 S. Crawford St. More information can be found online at www.davesservices.com.
In addition to the Free Furnace Installation program, Dave’s Services also helped to start the HIGH Program in conjunction with the Troy Foundation.
“It’s kind of a spin-off of the free furnace installation,” Morlan said. “It stands for Helping Individuals Get Heat.”
Donations are collected through the Troy Foundation, and when enough funds build up another free furnace is installed. Dave’s Services also matches each donation up to the first $1,000.
“We match dollar-for-dollar every donation made up to the first $1,000,” Morlan said. “People can make donations directly to the HIGH Fund at the Troy Foundation, or they can make donations when the guys are out on service calls.”
Dave’s Services was founded by owner Dave Denoyer in 1984.
“Dave’s lived in Troy all his life,” Morlan said. “This area around us has kind of always been our focal point.”
“We are able to do this thanks to all our customers around Miami County,” he said. “Without our customers, we wouldn’t be here. As much as people want to thank us for the free furnace installations, it goes even broader than that to our customers as well.”
