Gerald Hanks
A 6-year-old girl wants to make sure all firefighters get the hydration they need to do their jobs.
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This is why Kylee Walkingstick and her mother, Laura, created “Mission Hydrate Houston,” a charitable effort that delivers electrolyte-enhanced sports drinks to Houston Fire Department firefighters, working with the charity “Firefighters Helping Firefighters” to collect donations.
Mission:Hydrate Houston @Springfdtx @TheLearningExp #TLESpring #projecttogetherness #springfiredepartment #76 pic.twitter.com/CLmFOLQrqS
— Christina Tessier (@Christinaeddy12) August 19, 2017
HFD supplies its firefighters with basic drinking water; however, firefighters must pay for sports drinks out of their own pockets.
But, tackling the problem head on, Kylee’s website provides donors with outlets to contribute to her mission and a link from the Firefighters Helping Firefighters site to channel visitors.
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The young lady got the idea when she and her mother visited her uncle’s fire station in Houston’s Fifth Ward, where she noticed her mother would buy sports drinks for her uncle and bring them to the station.
When she found out that every firefighter didn’t get the same treatment, starting by asking neighbors for donations.
She raised enough money the first week to get sports drinks for many of the firefighters at her uncle’s station, but the ambitious youngster now wants to provide the drinks for fire stations all over Houston:
“I want to show support and respect (for firefighters),” Kylee said in an interview with a local TV station.
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Laura added her encouragement to her daughter’s efforts, showing her how to work through a big project one step at a time:
“I did not want to plant the seed that, just because it’s too hard, that she can’t do it,” she said.
Houston’s firefighters’ appreciation is red hot:
“There’s a lot of political things going on in the fire department right now as you’ve touched on: our pensions, our contracts all those things,” District Chief David Elliott said in an interview. “This just kind of sweeps all that away.”
Keep up the good work, Kylee!
