Ingersoll Rand Donates Compressors to Shining Hope Farms

When the Davidson, North Carolina, laboratory team found themselves with an operational test compressor, they didn’t have to look far to put it to valuable use.

“The Davidson Laboratory team supports and promotes Environmental, Health and Safety initiatives within the business,” said Engineering Laboratory Manager Michael Borkowski. “That means striving to recycle as much waste as possible, including compressor test units. Disposal options include reselling, repurposing for training or donations to local charities and universities. Recently, we had a reciprocating Ingersoll Rand compressor that was used for Innovate to Value testing, but was not in a condition to be resold. Rather than scrap the unit, we were very happy to donate it to one of Paul’s farms.”


Paul Kirkpatrick, an Ingersoll Rand Industrial Technologies and Services, Americas, principle electrical engineer, and his wife, Milinda, founded Shining Hope Farms in 2002. Now with three locations in North Carolina, Shining Hope Farms is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to enable children and adults to reach their full potential with equine assisted activities and therapies.

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“My job as an Ingersoll Rand engineer means I work closely with the Davidson laboratory team,” explained Paul. “I had asked Mike if he knew of any discounted units I might purchase for Shining Hope Farms and he informed me of their donation program. I’m very excited to be a recipient of Ingersoll Rand’s community outreach through this program.”

 

“We are so appreciative of the donated air compressor from Ingersoll Rand to be used for our therapeutic horseback riding programs,” said Milinda Kirkpatrick. “The compressor is essential for the livelihood of our nonprofit organization. We are using it to perform general farm maintenance requiring air tools such as filling tires, painting projects, carpentry projects and cleaning equipment.”

 

And the Davidson Laboratory employees weren’t the only ones feeling generous—Shining Hope Farms was also able to purchase a discounted unit direct from our Campbellsville, Kentucky, plant. Jan Benningfield, Campbellsville quality engineer, helped Paul procure a 5HP tank mounted unit. 

 

“Speaking for the entire Campbellsville team,” said Jan, “it’s great to see what Paul and Shining Hope Farms are doing to impact the lives of others. We were happy be a small part of it.”

 

These donations are illustrative of Ingersoll Rand’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) sustainability commitment to be socially and environmentally conscious, and demonstrate our value of “caring deeply about our neighbors and shared planet.”