InSinkErator® Support of PHCC Benefits Plumbing Students Here & Abroad

InSinkErator^® has renewed its commitment to the plumbing profession by again making a significant cash contribution to the Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors (PHCC) Educational Foundation. 

InSinkErator has ­presented the Foundation with $25,000 in matching funds to help boost the organization’s “Invest in Your Future” fundraising campaign, which supports PHCC education programs and funds scholarships for future industry professionals through the PHCC National Auxiliary. 

“The Educational Foundation has appreciated the support of InSinkErator for more than 25 years,” said Roger Peugeot, PHCC Educational Foundation chairperson. “Through contributions like these, the company plays a critical role in the Educational Foundation’s recruiting and training of the next generation of industry professionals.” 

Support from the PHCC Educational Foundation is key to funding programs that help advance the skills of young professionals and recruit students to the industry. Such was the case with the recently completed Community Plumbing Challenge in India, a global event designed to showcase the skills of young people developing innovative solutions to unhealthy sanitary conditions in developing parts of the world. 

The PHCC Educational Foundation sponsored the four-person team from the U.S., which along with teams from Australia, Spain and India, worked to improve the hand-washing system at a public school in Nashik, India during the four-day event in November. 

Team member Miya Preston of Milwaukee credits the Plumbing Challenge and Educational Foundation for helping her see the difference that she and others can make. “Through this experience I participated in a different side of the industry and now understand how my actions can directly affect people’s lives,” Preston said. 

Preston, who is studying building mechanical systems at Milwaukee School of Engineering, was one of the designers of the hand-washing system that was constructed by the teams. The gravity tank system included two roof-mounted 2000-liter tanks feeding 25 taps placed on sloped-trough basins to help increase water flow. Because water conservation was key to the project, the design allowed wastewater from a dedicated hand-washing basin to automatically flush the adjoining urinal troughs. Water meters were installed to keep track of how much water was used. 

In addition to talking with younger children from Nashik about the importance of hand washing and sanitation, Preston and the teams also spent an entire day with older students, teaching them the basics of masonry, water filtration, and pipe threading and cutting. “This inspired some to consider careers as plumbers or masons,” she said.

InSinkErator began its partnership with the PHCC Educational Foundation and the PHCC National Auxiliary more than 25 years ago with the launch of the “Invest in Your Future” campaign, the primary fundraising program for both the Foundation’s contractor education program and Auxiliary scholarships. InSinkErator contributions have been a major part of the more than $3 million in PHCC scholarships that have been awarded to young men and women involved in or pursuing careers in the industry.

 “We support and commend the vision shared by PHCC, the PHCC National Auxiliary and the PHCC Educational Foundation,” said Rob Grim, InSinkErator Senior Vice President of Global Sales. “Each year we are thrilled to be able to play a small role in helping bring that vision to life through the recruitment and training of talented, young contractors, who really are the future of the industry.” 

InSinkErator^® presented the PHCC Education Foundation with a check for $25,000 at the 2015 PHCC national convention in Las Vegas. Pictured are (l-r) Tim Ferry, group vice president tool and home products Emerson; Craig Lewis, PHCC Educational Foundation vice-chairperson; and Rob Grim, InSinkErator senior vice president, global sales.