ROBERT PIERCE
• Leader & Times
Summertime is in full swing, and there is no greater reminder of that than temperatures flirting with reaching triple digits on the mercury in many areas.
This leaves many people trying to find a way to stay cool, and while swimming holes help somewhat in that regard, they do not help when trying to keep cool at home.
A popular option for many over the years, particularly for those without air conditioning or those looking to trim electricity bills, is the use of fans. Recently, Liberal’s Westlake Ace Hardware, along with other Westlake stores across the country, helped with the need for fans in homes as it hosted a drive to help give fans to some local residents.
In Liberal specifically, Westlake customers donated $1,036 in change to help their fellow citizens in need. This represents a 70 percent increase in donations over the 2023 drive, resulting in 58 box fans given to the Seward County United Way, who will distribute them on behalf of the Salvation Army.
During the drive, Westlake customers were asked to donate by rounding up their purchase at the register. Every penny donated stays local and can really add up.
“A single box fan can significantly impact energy by circulating air throughout a home and enhancing the efficiency of a window unit air conditioner,” Westlake Ace Public Relations Spokesman Susan Shank said.
Shank said Westlake officials are proud of the local store and Liberal residents who stepped up to help out their fellow residents in need. She added fans can help reduce the cost of energy as well.
“You don’t have to run it 24/7,” she said. “It’s really great to see everyone in the community unite.”
Nationwide, Westlake has 165 stores in 13 states, including at least 40 in the Sunflower State, and all totaled, the company raised $108,000 in donations, resulting in 6,000 fans given to Salvation Army commands across the country.
The 2023 campaign in Liberal brought in about $160, and Shank said she was more than a little surprised when she saw the $1,036 collected this year.
“When we saw that number come through, I did a double take,” she said. “I thought, ‘Is that right? Is that an accounting error?’”
Shank said cashiers at all participating stores were encouraging customers to donate, and this is what she said it takes to bring in numbers like those seen for this year.
“A lot of times with people and the roundup campaigns, they don’t know exactly where that money goes, but every penny that is given in that store goes back to that community,” she said. “It doesn’t go to a nationwide campaign. It goes directly back and affects that community.”
Shank helps coordinate fan deliveries at all participating stores to the local person who picks up the fans.
“It’s a great program,” she said.
Shank said all Westlake stores are in charge of their own community outreach.
“If they are advertising or sponsoring or any other community involvement, that’s up to the individual stores,” she said. “They know their community best.”
Shannon Howard, general manager for the Liberal Westlake Ace Hardware store, said the fan drive is part of a longtime partnership the company has in place.
“It’s powered by the community for us, and anything we can do to support the community and anybody in need, it becomes a passion for our company and our store,” she said.
SCUW Director Diana Esparza-Villarreal said with Salvation Army being one of the agencies under the United Way umbrella, this makes going through businesses like Westlake and do these kinds of drives helpful.
“With it being so hot in the summer, it helps give those fans to those families who don’t have air conditioning, or sometimes, they get shut off or it’s not cool enough to where they need fans,” she said. “It is so helpful the community comes through and donates, and 58 fans is a lot compared to last year.”
Howard said a surprise to some is the need for fans amongst the elderly population. Before this year’s drive started, Esparza-Villarreal said she had a few fans left over from 2023, and she was able to help someone in need.
“Right now, it’s almost the end of July, and the heat had started way before this,” Esparza-Villarreal said. “We were there to already help a family whose kids were really hot at night. It even helps save energy in your home when you have fans like this. It’s really important even if you do have that air conditioner. Sometimes, it’s not enough, and you need that energy saver in that one room that always gets hot.”
Along with seniors, Esparza-Villarreal said children also tend to get hot as well, and Howard said those who have benefitted from previous drives likewise pitch in to help with the need for fans.
“We’ve also had customers who’ve been helped a prior year know it happens, found somebody in need, came in and requested a fan for them to try to help and being able to support the community again,” Howard said. “It stays local, and that’s huge.”
With the local Westlake Ace store raising significantly more this year than in 2023, Esparza-Villarreal said this says a lot about the people who donate to the fan drive.
“Donors are always there,” she said. “You just have to ask. Sometimes, it’s hard. Inflation happens. Everything’s so expensive, and sometimes, it’s hard to donate cash yourself, but if it’s just rounding up to make the difference, it adds up to get this many fans.”
Howard agreed, saying store customers are willing to give to the right causes.
“Our customers at almost any of the Westlake stores, if they know it is going to stay local, they donate 10 times more to their own community than they do anything outside the community,” she said.
Esparza-Villarreal reminded everyone the money raised goes to help local people.
“With Seward County United Way, it always stays local to go towards Seward County,” she said. “Anything we do will stay here.”
As for how the fans will be distributed, Esparza-Villarreal said her plan is to set a date to allow anyone who needs a fan to come to the Conestoga Building on North Kansas Avenue, where SCUW’s office is located, to pick up a fan.
“You could always call after that timeframe if you’re still needing one and didn’t get a chance to pick it up,” she said. “There’s some agencies that actually deliver if you contact them. We can deliver to you as well. I want to set that day for anyone to come pick up at that time, but if we still have fans available past that day, we’ll take calls for it.”
To contact Seward County United Way, call 620-624-5400.
