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‘God bless you’: Wichitans pick up free fans as temperatures climb

<i>KAKE via CNN Newsource</i><br/>The Salvation Army
KAKE via CNN Newsource
The Salvation Army

By Abby Wray

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    WICHITA, Kansas (KAKE) — The Salvation Army, Evergy, and Vornado are making sure Wichitans keep cool this summer with free fans that were given away on Tuesday.

ā€œIā€™m excited to get a new fan you know,ā€ said Schena Martiz.

Martiz is a mother of 4 kids under 5 years old. She struggles to keep her home cool in the summer. Thatā€™s why she went to the Salvation Army to pick up a new fan.

ā€œIt means everything to me because I sleep in the living room with my two babies and it gets hot in there so Iā€™m thankful for that,ā€ said Martiz.

She got one of 500 fans the Salvation Army was giving out Tuesday. If a person had not used the Salvation Armyā€™s resources previously it was just a short wait and some paperwork they filled out to get their brand new fans.

ā€œA fan doesn’t seem like a lot, but if you can keep your air conditioning set at a certain level where youā€™re not using all the energy, your electric bill is gonna go down,ā€ said Jami Scott, director of social services Salvation Army.

The Salvation Army partnered with Evergy and Vornado to give out these fans.

Evergy has been a part of this for more than a decade and in that time it’s given out more than 50,000 fans.

ā€œWe just hope weā€™re able to provide a service to our customers to help them stay cool in the summer heat,ā€ said Abby Hickey, Evergy.

ā€œA fan means everything to someone in this 100 degree plus weather,ā€ said Scott.

Gary Gimpel is 78 years old and has no air conditioning in his home.

So how does he usually stay cool?

ā€œCold showers, and I used to have an ice bag that I would put ice on my headā€¦Yeah it’s pretty rough, Iā€™m waiting for October,ā€ said Gary Gimpel, who was getting a fan.

He was cooling off at the library when he saw a flier advertising this free fan giveaway. He has a message for the Salvation Army.

ā€œThank you and God bless you,ā€ said Gimpel.

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Article Topic Follows: CNN - Regional

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