PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. — Rinnai America Corp. has received the 2010 Corporate Volunteer of the Year Award from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation for its support of the foundation’s mission to find a cure for cystic fibrosis (CF). Rinnai received the CF Foundation’s award after serving as a corporate sponsor of the organization’s 2010 Great Strides fundraising walk in Peachtree City, Ga., and hosting a variety of fundraising activities for the CF Foundation at its corporate headquarters in 2010. This past May, the company demonstrated its ongoing dedication to the cause by sponsoring the Great Strides walk for a second consecutive year.
Rinnai’s involvement with the CF Foundation can be attributed to the efforts of Rinnai Buyer Linda Doenges, whose 7-year-old grandson and 5-year-old granddaughter are battling the disease. Diagnosed with the condition as infants, her grandchildren must take 20-28 pills daily and spend up to two hours each day in special electric vests that help break up the mucus that clogs their lungs and limits their breathing. Doenges’ pursuit to raise awareness of the disease led to Rinnai’s initial sponsorship of the CF Foundation’s local Great Strides walk, and the enthusiasm Rinnai employees showed for the event encouraged Doenges to host additional CF Foundation fundraisers at Rinnai including a barbeque luncheon, paper rose sale, and silent auction of employee-donated items, restaurant gift cards, and Rinnai-donated laptops.