Stephenson Equipment representatives were at the Touch-A-Truck event to display an Elliott boom truck and a Yanmar mini-excavator.

Stephenson Equipment brought its machinery to the Touch-A-Truck Day event, held in Queensbury, N.Y., on July 14. The event helps the JRV Foundation — named for Jonathan R. Vasiliou — to raise awareness for sepsis, the body's extreme response to an infection, as well as promoting a "sky's the limit" attitude by engaging the community and creating a sense of family. Kids have the chance to sit in, blow the horn and have fun in some of the trucks many of them see every day.

"The excitement of the kids climbing into a mini-excavator for the first time and the joy they had pulling the air horn in the boom truck made it all worth it," said Rich Matera, area representative of Stephenson Equipment.

Matera was joined at the event by fellow Stephenson employees Gary Wright and Jeff Lantz along with many local contractors, suppliers and equipment companies.

"We are proud to bring some of our equipment to an event like this," said Matera. "Did you know that nearly 250,000 Americans die each year from sepsis? I was amazed to learn this. To help the JRV Foundation and their endeavor to promote sepsis awareness and do it through great family events like this Touch-A-Truck Day … we are so happy to help."

Stephenson Equipment has two New York locations, one in Syracuse and the other in the Albany area, which is not too far from where the JRV Foundation is based — in the Queensbury area. The foundation has joined efforts with the Albany Medical Center and created a Sepsis Research and Awareness Fund.

Stephenson Equipment has been in business since 1957 and provides heavy lifting and equipment needs for the upstate New York markets focusing on providing the best service to its customers.

Darrick Marris, vice president of Stephenson's New York operations, said, "Stephenson believes in family events like the Touch-A-Truck Day."

Stephenson recently expanded its offerings to include the Elliott Boom line — one of the trucks SEI had there. Stephenson has offered the Elliott HiReach line of aerial work platforms for many years and is excited to offer the new line of well-built Elliott boom trucks.

Jeff Lantz, Stephenson's area construction equipment representative, said "We also had a Yanmar mini-excavator at the event. We have been a dealer for Yanmar construction equipment for some time now. Yanmar was the inventor of the mini-excavator and still builds some of the best machines offered. Maybe because it is a little smaller, the kids had a fun time getting to sit in this machine."

For more information, visit jrvfoundation.org and stephensonequipment.com.

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