First United Bank and BrucePac recently donated pallets of bottled water to area fire departments.
Brett Rogers, community bank president for First United Bank, said the bank has a Gatorade and water challenge during the month of June.
“It’s for first responders and so we contacted our local partner here at Pruett’s and they were willing to match our monetary donations for water and so the bank through our employees and customers donated $500,” Rogers said.
He expressed thankfulness to first responders across the nation for protecting citizens and their assets.
“So, this is a small token of our appreciation that we can do and I know it’s needed out there and appreciated,” Rogers said. “I was visiting with someone that was over at Green Spray and they said when they first got the water, they’re like, what are we going to do with all of this water and months go by during the summer months and they look around and they’re running out of water. So, we’re happy to do this every year because we know it’s a need out there.”
Melissa Patterson, is a Spend Life Wisely Ambassador for First United Bank and she said the Gatorade and water drive is held at 85 First United locations in Oklahoma and Texas.
“So, this allows us to give back to our local community in a focused and intentional way, so every year,” Patterson said. “I work directly with (Bryan County Emergency Management Director) Cody Allen to get donations passed out to first responders in Bryan County and he does a great job of making sure that local volunteer fire departments, including our regular departments, get part of the donation.”
Bob Delveaux, general manager at BrucePac, said, “We are very proud of first responders here in Durant and we’re very happy that we can be a part of this donation and we just want them to know we respect their work very much. We donated this pallet of water. We just want these first responders to know that we’re very proud of what they do.”
Allen expressed appreciation for the water donations.
“It’s hot and it’s not getting any cooler, so for whenever they use fire departments out on location fighting fires, they are in desperate need for water during that time, during this heat and to stay hydrated and cool and to keep them safe as they are doing their job,” Allen said.
