Cool idea brings relief

Wade Spees // The Post and Courier

Benjamin Campbell, an 85-year-old retired cab driver, was one of 100 people who left the West Ashley Lowe’s with an air conditioner on Thursday, benefiting from the city’s Operation Cool Breeze.

Record high temperatures bring record requests for cool air.

Project Cool Breeze, now in its 12th year of donating air-conditioning units and fans to the elderly, has already had about 400 calls for help this summer. They are only able to serve between 200 and 300 people, depending on the amount of donations.

The entire operation "runs solely on good-hearted people," said state Rep. Wendell Gilliard, who founded the project in 1999.

One hundred air-conditioning units were given out Thursday at Lowe's in West Ashley, one of the projects many sponsors, during the first round of distributions this summer.

According to Gilliard, the distribution was made possible by about $8,000 in contributions from individual and corporate donors.

He said he knows firsthand what it is like to live without air conditioning in the Lowcountry heat. The project's name came from his mother, who used to tell him and his siblings during hot summer days, "If you stop and be quiet, God will send a cool breeze."

Because the need is so great, there is a waiting list to receive a fan or air-conditioning unit, and not everyone is able to get one. The most senior applicants and those with medical conditions are placed at the top of the list.

The project has even had calls from several doctors this summer, referring patients who would not survive without a comfortable environment.

Gilliard said the contributions have dropped slightly because of the recession, but his solution is to reach out to area churches and "engage the faith-based community."

"You are the instrument at this point," Gilliard told his audience at Lowe's.

"This enables us to help other people," he said, asking those receiving units to distribute brochures about the program to their churches.

His goal is for people to start centers in their own communities where people can make donations.

As of now, the program can afford three more distributions. Gilliard said he would like to have about eight more to serve as many seniors as possible.

Last summer, the project received about 900 calls total, said Project Cool Breeze director Carolyn Brown. They were able to fulfill about 300 of those requests.