WASHINGTON, D.C. — October 8, 2026 — Medify Air, the Children’s Environmental Health Network (CEHN)’s Eco-Healthy Child Care® program, UPS Foundation, and College HUNKS Hauling Junk & Moving® have announced a landmark collaboration to help child care providers create healthier indoor environments for young children.
Through its Healthy Air Program, Medify Air donated 175 Medify MA-1000 commercial air purifiers, along with nine replacement filter sets per unit, to CEHN, valued at over $1.1 million. This is Medify Air’s largest ever donation of air purifiers and the largest in-kind corporate contribution ever received by CEHN. CEHN, in turn, is distributing the products to child care centers nationwide through its network of trusted community partners. The gift is helping to create healthier early learning environments where children can breathe cleaner air, learn, and thrive. UPS Foundation and College HUNKS Hauling Junk & Moving® is delivering the equipment to community partners and participating child care providers at no cost, through donated transportation and distribution services.
“Children spend much of their day in child care, yet the quality of the air they breathe indoors is too often overlooked. We’re proud to support CEHN and its community partners with air purifiers and replacement filters, and grateful to UPS Foundation and College HUNKS Hauling Junk & Moving® for helping deliver them to child care providers across the country,” said Tony Colaneri, Vice President, Corporate Social Responsibility and R&D, Medify Air.
Together, these contributions are expanding the reach and impact of the Little Lungs, Big Futures, an alliance of community-based organizations, led by CEHN’s award-winning Eco-Healthy Child Care® (EHCC) program, which equips child care providers with training, technical assistance, indoor air quality monitoring, and practical improvements. Working alongside CEHN, local partners provide trusted, on-the-ground technical assistance that helps early childhood programs improve indoor air quality, reduce exposure to harmful pollutants, and build resilience to growing threats such as wildfire smoke, extreme heat, and poor outdoor air quality.
Nearly 70% of the units are going to these community partners, who are distributing them to local child care facilities they already work with through Little Lungs, Big Futures. The remaining units will go to National Ag Family Head Start (NAFHSA) child care programs serving migrant and seasonal farmworker families. NAFHSA is a critical resource for these families and for the agricultural industry, helping keep farmworkers’ children safe, healthy, and away from hazards present on farms.
“When placed side by side, the total donation of industrial purifiers and replacement filters stretches 2,800 square feet of space. This massive amount of air purification products are being distributed to community organizations and child care providers in California, Texas, District of Columbia., Michigan, Arizona, Montana, Idaho, Florida, Washington, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Oregon and Georgia. As a result, small children across the nation are breathing easier, thanks to this partnership,” said Hester Paul, National Director of Eco-Healthy Child Care®.
“Children’s health is essential to the mission of Migrant and Seasonal Head Start programs. Clean air in classrooms and other spaces where children spend their day helps protect their health and supports their ability to learn and thrive,” said Cleo Rodriquez, Jr., Executive Director of National Ag Families Head Start Association.
Children are uniquely vulnerable to environmental hazards. Their lungs and brains are still developing, they breathe more air per pound of body weight than adults, and many spend more than 40 hours each week in child care settings. Today, more than 40 percent of school-age children live with at least one chronic health condition, many of which are influenced or exacerbated by environmental exposures. Meanwhile, more than 86,000 industrial chemicals are in commerce in the United States, most of which have never been adequately tested for children’s health impacts.
“Research demonstrates that improving indoor air quality can improve asthma control and overall respiratory health in individual children,” says Dr. James Roberts, Pediatrician and CEHN Board President
Poor indoor air quality has been linked to asthma, respiratory illness, missed school days, and impaired learning. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates Americans spend approximately 90% of their time indoors, where air can often be significantly more polluted than outdoor air.
Nearly 11 million young children attend child care in the United States, making these environments one of the most important—and often overlooked—places to protect children’s health.
“This extraordinary partnership represents a transformational investment in children’s environmental health,” said Nsedu Obot Witherspoon, Executive Director, Children’s Environmental Health Network. Founded in 1992, CEHN works to protect children from environmental hazards through science, education, policy, and partnerships. Its flagship Eco-Healthy Child Care® program has spent the past sixteen years helping child care providers reduce toxic exposures through practical, evidence-based improvements. In 2025 alone, EHCC reached more than 71,000 children across 600+ endorsed child care programs in 42 states, equipping providers with affordable strategies to improve indoor environments and reduce environmental health risks.
For Medify Air, the initiative builds upon the company’s long-standing commitment to improving public health. Through its Healthy Air Program, Medify has donated more than $6 million in air purification equipment to communities in need, disaster recovery efforts, schools, universities, and public facilities across the country. More than one-third of U.S. states have trusted Medify Air to provide air purification systems for schools, senior care facilities, and other public institutions.
UPS Foundation, in partnership with College HUNKS Hauling Junk & Moving®, is making statewide distribution possible through an in-kind donation of transportation, warehousing, and logistics services. Coordinating shipment of hundreds of commercial air purifiers and replacement filters, helps to ensure that resources reach community partners and child care providers efficiently and at no additional cost.
“At The UPS Foundation, we believe health equity means every person, regardless of where they live or the barriers they face, deserves access to quality care and the opportunity to live a healthy life. By combining innovative logistics, strong partnerships, and community-centered solutions, we help remove barriers to care and create pathways to healthier, more resilient communities,” says UPS Foundation representatives.
“A donation can only make a difference once it gets into the hands of the people who need it,” said Zach Gilstrap, President of College HUNKS Hauling Junk & Moving-Savannah/Hilton Head & Brunswick/St Simons Island. “We helped close that last mile between idea and action by optimizing our network, expediting the right equipment, assigning labor and junk removal, plus delivering these shipments with the same care we bring to every move. Service and community are at the heart of who we are, so we were proud to build on our trusted relationship with UPS Foundation and use what we do best to help create healthier environments for children and their communities.”
By combining Medify Air’s industry-leading air purification technology, CEHN’s nationally recognized expertise in children’s environmental health, grassroots partners reach into communities, UPS Foundation and College HUNKS Hauling Junk & Moving®’s global transportation support, the collaboration strengthens an existing, evidence-based initiative that is already helping child care providers create healthier learning environments for thousands of young children. The energy behind this partnership is a clear example of the power of selfless collaboration, and what’s possible when organizations with different strengths show up for children who need it most.
Learn more at cehn.org/littlelungs
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About Medify Air
Medify Air is a leading provider of portable air purifiers with Limited Lifetime Warranties for spaces ranging from small rooms to large commercial facilities. An American company that has deployed more than one million air purifiers, Medify Air was leveraged by state agencies across the country to keep schools and other public spaces safer during the pandemic. Through its Healthy Air Program, the company has partnered with dozens of organizations in donating over $6 million in air purification equipment to those in need.
About Children’s Environmental Health Network
The Children’s Environmental Health Network (CEHN) is a national multi-disciplinary organization that for nearly 35 years has been leading the movement to protect children from environmental hazards and promote a healthier environment. CEHN is the voice of children’s environmental health in the nation’s capital–one that is uniquely informed by, and rooted in, pediatric and environmental health science. www.cehn.org
About College HUNKS Hauling Junk & Moving®
College HUNKS Hauling Junk & Moving® was originally founded by two college buddies with a beat-up cargo van and now has nearly 200 franchises providing full-service tech-enabled residential, commercial local+long distance moving, junk removal, donation pickups, and labor services in the United States as well as Canada. H.U.N.K.S., which stands for Honest, Uniformed, Nice, Knowledgeable, Service, is a socially conscious, values-based organization and has a national partnership with U.S. Hunger, which strives to end childhood hunger. The brand was awarded the Community Hero award by U.S. Hunger in 2022. The company strives to become recognized as an iconic brand, renowned for its world-class company culture and service, while also providing a viable employment and franchise opportunity to pursue personal and professional fulfillment.
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Media Contact
Hannah Wilkerson
External Relations & Creative Manager, Children’s Environmental Health Network
hannahw@cehn.org
(202) 573-9910