DALTON, Mass. — The Fire Department received a donation of more than 2,352 cans of emergency drinking water from Anheuser-Busch and Girardi Distributors on Friday morning.
The donation will be stored in the department's cooler and distributed at fire scenes on hot summer days or made readily available to the firefighters when combating a fire, interim Fire Chief Robert Czerwinski said.
Anheuser-Busch partners with the National Volunteer Fire Council to provide emergency drinking water to volunteer fire departments so they can focus their limited resources on other things.
This donation goes a long way because it allows the department to save money by not having to buy extra drinking water, Czerwinski said.
Supplying this water to volunteer departments is Anheuser-Busch and Girardi Distributors way of showing that they are part of the community, Girardi Distributors branch manager Mark Mason said.
"It's a big cost to have to supply your own water, we know that. So, if we can make it easier and cost effective for the volunteer fire departments, they can put their resources into other areas," Mason said.
"You know, buying other equipment that's more beneficial for them instead of spending hundreds of dollars on water, whatever we can do helps a little bit."
"More than two-thirds of America's firefighters are volunteers, often serving on the frontlines in their local communities with limited resources and staffing," Anheuser-Busch's press release said.
The water hails from Anheuser-Busch's brewery in Cartersville, Ga., which periodically pauses its beer production to can clean, safe drinking water for the donation efforts.
The national organization, Anheuser-Busch, makes more than 100 brands of beer including Budweiser.
Girardi Distributors in Pittsfield has also recently delivered donated water to Becket, Clarksburg and Hinsdale. Girardi Distributors in Athol has also delivered donated water to fire departments in that area, Mason said.
Anheuser-Busch has a long history of community engagement and support, examples being aiding in disaster relief and preparedness, its partnership with the Red Cross, and its emergency drinking water program.
The brewer has donated more than 6.4 million cans of clean, safe drinking water to more than 960 volunteer fire departments across 49 states since launching the collaboration with the NVFC and its wholesaler in 2019.
This year, Anheuser-Busch intends on donating more than 2.5 million cans to volunteer fire departments across the country, which is more than ever before.
More information on the Anheuser-Busch Emergency Drinking Water program here.
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Big Votes Await Pittsfield City Council
By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Tuesday is a big day for Pittsfield, as the City Council will take a final vote on the fiscal 2025 budget, a five-year trash contract, and water and sewer rates.
These will be taken in council chambers at the meeting beginning at 6 p.m.
The proposed $215,955,210 spending plan is a 5 percent increase from the previous year and includes a $200,000 cut to the schools. Councilors preliminarily OKed the number a couple of weeks ago with a last-minute cut to the district's budget after "unprofessional" comments from School Committee members.
This drops the school budget to $82.6 million.
All other city departments were preliminarily approved without adjustments over four hearings.
The Pittsfield Police Department budget is proposed to rise 4 percent from $14,364,673 in FY24 to $14,998,410, an increase of about $614,000. A 2.5 percent increase is proposed for the Department of Public Services, rising about $287,000 from $11,095,563 in FY24 to $11,382,122.
Mayor Peter Marchetti has also submitted orders to appropriate $2.5 million from certified free cash to reduce the FY25 tax rate, borrow an aggregate sum not exceeding $10,192,500 for general fund capital expenditures, borrow an aggregate sum not exceeding $7,700,000 for enterprise fund capital expenditures, and transfer and appropriate $234,000 from the public works stabilization fund to the Department of Public Services.
Councilors will also be tasked with the city's trash collection for the next five years, with contracts on the table between the City of Pittsfield and Casella Waste Management, Inc. for solid waste and recyclables collection and for the operation of the Casella-owned transfer station at 500 Hubbard Avenue.
Following three community meetings to engage residents, the council preliminarily approved the five-year contracts with Casella last week. This agreement uses automated collection instead of unlimited trash pickup VIA 48-gallon trash and recycling toters provided at no cost.
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