PASCO COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — As the new school year gets underway, some students and teachers in Pasco County Schools are dealing with scorching classrooms and no air conditioning.

“Currently all schools are operational except one high school is at 50% but maintenance is working on it now,” Pasco County Schools Spokesperson Melanie Waxler said. “We are finding most of the time, it’s just a cooler that needs to be reset. It’s happening often and we are keeping up as best we can and as quickly as we can.”

But while the repair work is done, community members have started a small but mighty effort to get box fans into classrooms to help students and staff cool off.

“I can’t imagine trying to learn when you’re sweating, it just zaps all the energy out of you,” said John West, a small business owner who, along with his wife, decided to give back. “How can you concentrate?”

“We’re like wait a minute — that’s how we’ll give back to the schools this year. Let’s do the fans, and see what we can do to help out,” Holly West said.

So the couple began collecting box fans, and shared their mission on Facebook. That’s when Dylan Lonsway, a local realtor, took notice of the effort and decided to help.

“I said, ‘let me see how I can help the community as well,’ and get some more fans,” Lonsway said, noting that he dropped off fans at several area schools this week.

“It’s a blessing. Just seeing how much they were smiling and so thankful,” he said.

If you have a fan you’d like to donate, or want to fund the purchase of a fan, Dylan said to email him at dylan@floridahomesbydylan.com