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(ALEX HAVARDANSKY | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Those who serve at Murray Volunteer Fire Department pose with their delivery of drinking water cans Thursday, June 5. This delivery came from a grant which Anheuser-Busch dedicates to departments combating wildfires -
(ALEX HAVARDANSKY | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Anheuser-Busch dispatched a truck to deliver the large supply of water Thursday, June 5. The company will periodically dedicate themselves to making water deliveries to combat wildfire areas by keeping firefighters hydrated.
The Murray Volunteer Fire Department received a huge care package in the fight against wildfires Thursday.
The fire department received thousands of cans of drinking water from Budweiser manufacturer Anheuser-Busch.
Anheuser-Busch stated in a release that the donation was made to provide hydration for firefighters.
“Murray Volunteer Fire Department has received a donation of emergency drinking water from Anheuser-Busch to help keep firefighters hydrated during wildfire response efforts this season,” the press release said. “The donation, made in partnership with the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC), will provide critical hydration to first responders working long hours in extreme conditions.”
This all became possible thanks to a grant application that Young County volunteer fireman Arwin Johnson spotted on Facebook.
“I saw it on Facebook,” Johnson said. “So much of the stuff on Facebook is not real. So I got on the Anheuser-Busch website to sort of check it out, sure enough there it was.”
Johnson said he went on to promptly fill out and send the application for the emergency water grant and in just about a week they received a response saying that the grant had been awarded to them.
In this grant, the press release said that the fire department would be receiving approximately 2,352 cans of water to provide greater access to clean drinking water for the firemen at the station for both wildfires and “other emergencies” where proper hydration is critical.
It is an annual tradition for Anheuser-Busch to stop producing beer for a period of time and start producing clean water cans for exactly this reason, according to the press release and Johnson.
While this donation was specifically made to Murray VFD, both Johnson and his associates at the station are in agreement that those cases of water will be spread out to other stations across the county.
What’s particularly helpful about this grant for the volunteer department is now they have a surplus of drinking water free of charge.
“We always bought it (in the past),” Johnson said. “We would go to Sam’s (Club) or somewhere else to buy it.”
While the season so far has been a surprisingly wet one, Johnson said it’s always good to have extra water on hand as the months get hotter and dryer.
The large shipment was delivered to the volunteer fire department Thursday, June 5.
