Gallery: Local families a bit warmer thanks to local business and Christian Aid

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For the past six years, the Shaws have gathered blankets from local schools and businesses, matching whatever they collect, and then donating them to Lemoore Christian Aid, which they did on Tuesday morning when Shaw and company delivered 336 new blankets that undoubtedly will get used this cold winter.

Lindsay Aguayo, who helped engineer the donation, told The Leader this was the sixth consecutive year that Shaw’s sponsored the blanket drive.  “We’ve delivered a total of 2,109 blankets,” she said since they started the annual donation.

The owners, Jeff, and Annette Shaw assumed there was a need for blankets so a few years ago they started their drive. “You know, as a heating and air conditioning company, we thought what could we do to give back to the community,” said Annette Shaw. “Of course, in the winter time is when everybody needs (help). They need to keep warm, or they need food. You hear about coat drives, but you never hear about blanket drives.”

So, armed with a lofty goal, the Shaws contacted other businesses, asked for local schools’ support and began collecting blankets. “We match whatever we collect. That’s what we do every year. We call it our “Gift of Warmth” blanket drive.”

Shaws Heating and Air Conditioning is located at 16838 South 18th Avenue. They can be reached at 925-9923. “We do air conditioning, heating, refrigeration. And we do solar now as well,” said Annette Shaw.