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Overcast Completing a ‘sunny’ installation
Miller family of Atlantic Beach receives a donated solar system
An Atlantic Beach family that has a teenaged son who suffered a pre-birth stoke and endures hundreds of seizures a day, received a donation of a complete solar system from an Oakdale-based company’s charitable arm.
Oliver Miller, 16, occasionally has seizures that are so severe that ne needs to be hospitalized and attached to a breathing tube, has been undergoing stem cell treatment recently, which has substantially improved his mobility, vision and quality of life.
SUNation Cares, the not-for-profit division of SUNation Solar Systems, posted on Facebook that the company’s foundation was looking for families to whom they could donate solar systems.
“This came about from a friend who owns a solar company,” said Missy Miller, Oliver’s mother, whose family also includes husband Brandon and daughter Katy. “He had posted on Facebook that his company foundation was looking to do some charitable donations to families of solar systems. We spoke a bit and I really felt that there were other families that were probably much more in need than mine. He disagreed and wanted to donate to our family.”
Scott Maskin, SUNation’s chief executive officer, said he was inspired by the Miller family to establish SUNation Cares. In an effort to help her son, Missy was also at the forefront of pushing for the legalization of medical marijuana in New York state. It is thought that the medically prescribed oil form of marijuana, which has a low concentration of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC — which gives users a high — would substantially decrease the frequency and severity of Oliver’s seizures.
“This is such a great day for me and the entire SUNation team,” Maskin said, last Friday at the Miller home. “We thank the Miller family for allowing us to use our solar expertise to make a difference in their lives.”
SUNation Cares paid for the labor, design and engineering services. East Meadow-based Electrical Inspectors, Inc. also contributed their services. PSEG Long Island and the Town of Hempstead partnered with SUNation as well.
