Richmond County Marshal’s Office looking for ways to cool down the summer

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) – It’s just the beginning of these hot summer months, and local law enforcement are helping to serve the community in more ways.

Law enforcement with the Marshal’s office say their duty is to serve the community, and their passion is to do that to the fullest degree.

“It just makes us be more in touch with the community and let ‘em know we’re not just here for just law enforcement, we’re actually citizens ourselves, so just trying to help,” Lt. Omar Rouse said.

Each year, they hold this fan drive and aim to partner with local nonprofits in the area to distribute the fans, especially to the elderly.

“Marshal’s have noticed a need– just like us– throughout the community. They’ve noticed a need with our seniors, and how we’re getting record-high heats this year. A lot of our seniors can’t keep up with their power bill, not only are we getting record high heats, we’re also getting record power bills,” Augusta Dream Fundraising Coordinator Center Hallie Dickens said.

This year, they’ve partnered with Damascus Baptist Church and the Augusta Dream Center to name a few.

“They reached out to us and they were like, can we do some fans– fan drive for you. We can drives, but you have the community that this will go out to. So, we were happy to take those fans, I think they raised a hundred, a hundred and five fans for us and we were able to get them out last Thursday to some of our seniors in our community that needs those fans,” Dickens said.

Lt. Rouse tells me the Marshal’s office is happy to be able to provide a service that helps them connect with the community.

“Just uh, let ’em see a different side of law enforcement that they normally don’t see. The fans help us out with the elderly. Like I said, they can’t get out, they’re on a fixed income, so what we do is, we try to toughen– make the load a little less on them because as you see now, it’s only June and it is hot outside,” he said.

Law enforcement tell me while the drive has ended, they’ll still collect donations at the Marshal’s office if you’d like to participate.

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