Through its $450,000 Meals & Masks program, ExxonMobil is distributing grants for personal protection equipment, or PPE; delivering meals to first responders; supporting local food banks and bolstering local restaurants.
While many of these donations are going to first responders based in the city of Houston and to the Texas Medical Center, Truman Bell, manager of community relations for Exxon Mobil Corp., said the company also wants to be sure to take care of the first responders in their own backyard.
"We wanted to make sure that we carved out a piece and gave it right here at the front door of our campus," Bell said. "Spring Fire Department is right here in our community. The firehouse is near our campus, and when we need them, they're there. So in this unprecedented time during the pandemic, we want to make sure that we're doing our part to help them get the equipment they need to do their job."
Since the coronavirus pandemic hit the Greater Houston area in early March, Spring Assistant Fire Chief Robert Logan said SFD's operations have changed significantly.
"We treat everybody as they are a potentially infected patient because we can't take the chance that they're not exhibiting the signs and symptoms, and then, we come to find out a day or two later that they were positive, and we were in close proximity without any PPE," Logan said. "So we do the full PPE on every medical call, just in case that patient is positive and they're just asymptomatic. That's not something we've ever had to do before."
Additionally, Logan said fire departments face unique challenges as compared with other first responder groups because firefighters live together while on duty.
"Police—they work an eight-hour shift, they're in a patrol car and then, they go home, whereas the firefighters shift for 24 hours. So they live together; they cook together; they eat together," Logan said. "So they have to practice social distancing. They have to make sure that they're wearing their masks to not spread [the coronavirus between] each other because ... you could cripple an entire fire station by getting everyone infected and everyone quarantined."
Thanks to a $5,000 grant that ExxonMobil pledged April 15, Logan said SFD will be able to replenish its stock of PPE, including masks, gloves, surgical gowns and eye protection.
"It's going to help keep our firefighters safe while also providing an extra level of protection for our community," Logan said. "[Getting] the PPE from ExxonMobil, it allows our people to wear the masks all the time, which will help reduce the spread if we do have someone who gets infected because we still have to provide an essential service that [the] community's come to expect, and we can't just say, 'Okay, we're going to be home sick.'"
In addition to PPE, Bell said, ExxonMobil will also be delivering meals to SFD from local restaurants through a partnership between ExxonMobil and the Texas Restaurant Association. Through the program, ExxonMobil's grant allows participating restaurants to prepare high-end meals for first responders and to keep staff on the payroll.
"We have some great restaurants in Houston, and if we're not careful, some of those aren't going to survive this," Bell said.
Whitmeyer's Distilling Co. showed its support for first responders April 20 by distributing 20 gallon-sized jugs of distillery-made hand sanitizer to each of SFD's nine fire stations.
As reported by Community Impact Newspaper, the Houston-based distillery previously donated 6,100 gallons of hand sanitizer to Texas Children's Hospital and is continuing to distribute free 32-ounce bottles to the public Mon.-Sat. from 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Hand sanitizer is limited to one bottle per household.
"I know it's a tough time for everybody, but them still being able to take the opportunity to reach out to us and want to help—we're always appreciative of that," Logan said.
