Community Involvement

The Aquatherm Lamadrid Memorial Scholarship was created in honor of Mateo “Matty” Lamadrid, Aquatherm’s long-time Plant Manager. Matty was instrumental in creating and perfecting many of the manufacturing techniques for our products used to this day. This renewable Scholarship is awarded each year to four Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering students attending the NJIT Newark College of Engineering. Aquatherm chooses the recipients based on their essay responses to the question “Why do you want to become an Industrial and Manufacturing Engineer?”

Aquatherm sponsors a youth league girls basketball team, the Jersey Suns. Comprised of girls 16 years and older, the Suns are part of the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), the largest non-profit, volunteer sports organization in the United States. All costs, including tournament entry fees, equipment, and operating costs are raised through donations and fundraisers.

The Marie Reed School and Recreation Center, an inner city school in Washington, D.C., has an indoor pool that is used by the entire community for recreational purposes as well as for student physical education classes. Formerly heated by electric, our solar pool heating system saves the school $10,000 a year in heating costs and was given to the school as part of a joint effort between Aquatherm and two of our customers.

As one of the famous “Hole in the Wall” summer camps founded by actor Paul Newman and General Norman Schwartzkopf, The Boggy Creek Gang Camp provides an opportunity for children with chronic illnesses to enjoy the summer camp experience. Modern facilities for dialysis and chemotherapy allow these kids to experience the joy and freedom of summer camp. When they needed a heated pool for the comfort of these campers, we felt honored to donate an entire system.

Another one of Aquatherm’s designated charities is Find-A-Cure for children. The mission of Find-A-Cure is to search and fund the effects of Children’s Duchenne, a neuro-muscular disease that wastes the muscles in young boys’ bodies and confines them to wheelchair by age 10. These boys die in their teens when the heart and lungs can no longer function. This disease, in the U.S. alone, currently affects over 100,000 boys and has no known cure.

Aquatherm employees come together once a year to support the fight against cancer in the all-day, all-night Relay for Life walkathon held by the American Cancer Society. Aquatherm has participated for the past three years in this worldwide event, and actively supports the ACS with company fundraising activities as well as donations from our nation-wide network of dealers and distributors. Recently, Aquatherm was awarded the “Team Spirit Award,” and has managed to raise the most money in its class two years in a row!