image description — Beyond Guardian Air is a smart solution for any business, purifying air and reducing viruses and bacteria 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Air Purifying System Helps Business Owners Keep Customers, Employees Safe

08:15AM / Sunday, August 23, 2020Print Story | Email Story

Business owners have an important tool to help keep their customers and employees safe during this COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

Beyond Guardian Air is a smart solution for any business, purifying air and reducing viruses and bacteria 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It is proven to reduce airborne and surface contaminants, enhances health and quality of life, purifies the air and surfaces and reduces odor, removes harmful gasses, protects from recontamination as people enter and move around the area, and delivers measurable and proven results.

The system uses a revolutionary technology called "photocatalytic oxidation" (PCO), which uses a combination of UV light and titanium dioxide to remove contaminants, in conjunction with Aerus's proprietary ActivePure Technology, which is university-tested and proven effective against bacteria, viruses, mold and fungi in the air and on surfaces. In addition, a carbon pre-filter removes odors from the air, including cigar and cigarette smoke.

Beyond Guardian Air is Energy Star-certified, costs as little as 6 cents a day to operate and is protected with a five-year limited warranty. It has a silent operation, with all-steel construction eliminating vibrations and rattling, its filter media is waterproof to resist contamination from mold and it purifies 2,000 square feet in one hour on high setting, thus carrying an exceptional Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR) rating. Among other places, ActivePure been used by NASA and is a 2017 Space Technology Hall of Fame Inductee. And most Major League Baseball teams now have ActivePure technology in their facilities.

This system is perfect for business owners who want ultimate indoor air quality protection for their offices, where has been shown to reduce viral and bacterial loads. In restaurants, where there are large numbers of people moving in and out throughout the day, it can help keep staff and patrons healthy and reassured they are eating and working in a healthy space. In athletic facilities, where staph infections can mean season-ending illnesses - and worse - it is shown to eradicate problematic pathogens. In schools, which are among the top places illnesses can spread, the system has been shown to significantly reduce viruses and sick days. In health care facilities, where waiting rooms can be a petri dish of viruses, it can eliminate odors and contaminants that cause illnesses. And the system is used worldwide in hotels, where it has been shown to reduce levels contaminants immediately and persistently.

It is effective anywhere a crowd gathers where there is a risk of the spread of pathogens among the people in that space - and in your home to help protect you and your loved ones and bring a clean balance to air and surfaces.

Contact your local Aerus Dealer, located at 383 North St. in Pittsfield, Mass., at 413-442-1544 for more information.

Capeless Students Raise $5,619 for Charity

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
11:13AM / Friday, December 19, 2025

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Students at Capeless Elementary School celebrated the season of giving by giving back to organizations that they feel inspired them.

On Monday night, 28 fourth-grade students showed off the projects they did to raise funds for an organization of their choice. They had been given $5 each to start a small business by teachers Jeanna Newton and Lidia White.

Newton created the initiative a dozen years ago after her son did one while in fifth grade at Craneville Elementary School, with teacher Teresa Bills.

"And since it was so powerful to me, I asked her if I could steal the idea, and she said yes. And so the following year, I began, and I've been able to do it every year, except for those two years (during the pandemic)," she said. "And it started off as just sort of a feel-good project, but it has quickly tied into so many of the morals and values that we teach at school anyhow, especially our Portrait of a Graduate program."

Students used the venture capital to sell cookies, run raffles, make jewelry, and more. They chose to donate to charities and organizations like St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Berkshire Humane Society and Toys for Tots.

"Teaching them that because they have so much and they're so blessed, recognizing that not everybody in the community has as much, maybe not even in the world," said Newton. "Some of our organizations were close to home. Others were bigger hospitals, and most of our organizations had to do with helping the sick or the elderly, soldiers, people in need."

Once they have finished and presented their projects, the students write an essay on what they did and how it makes them feel.

"So the essay was about the project, what they decided to do, how they raised more money," Newton said. "And now that the project is over, this week, we're writing about how they feel about themselves and we've heard everything from I feel good about myself to this has changed me."

Sandra Kisselbrock raised $470 for St. Jude's by selling homemade cookies.

"It made me feel amazing and happy to help children during the holiday season," she said.

Gavin Burke chose to donate to the Soldier On Food Pantry. He shoveled snow to earn money to buy the food.

"Because they helped. They used to fight for our country and used to help protect us from other countries invading our land and stuff," he said.

Desiree Brignoni-Lay chose to donate to Toys for Tots and bought toys with the $123 she raised.

Luke Tekin raised $225 for the Berkshire Humane Society by selling raffle tickets for a basket of instant hot chocolate and homemade ricotta cookies because he wanted to help the animals.

"Because animals over, like I'm pretty sure, over 1,000 animals are abandoned each year, he said. "So I really want that to go down and people to adopt them."

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