Carlisle is one of a number of HVAC construction industry companies that support the foundation.  The charity has raised more than $427,000 for people with spinal injuries or nervous system disorders such as multiple sclerosis or Lou Gehrig’s disease. The money has been used to purchase wheelchairs or other equipment to improve their lives.

“We’re small but we do just what we can do in that regard,” Groh said in a recent phone interview from his Texas home, one specially designed and built in 2010 to make his life easier. He answers calls and dials the phone by puffing on a mouthpiece and types emails by dictating into a microphone.

Carlisle sponsors the foundation’s annual golf tournaments in Dallas, Chicago and Minneapolis.

“It’s a big opportunity for us to give back in a small way,” said Billy Prewitt, a marketing and business development manager with Carlisle.

A recent recipient of funding from the foundation is Charlie Yerger, a Johnson Controls employee with a form of muscular dystrophy that severely limits his movement. Today, he is confined to a wheelchair and does technical support via phone and online from his Texas home. The Groh Foundation installed a wheelchair lift on his truck and its remodeling his bathroom to make it more accessible for him.

More information on the Joseph Groh Foundation is available at www.josephgrohfoundation.org.