CFPSVA, H-E-B raise funds for fire department

By PAMELA GRANT
Cove Leader-Press 

Copperas Cove’s H-E-B Plus! and volunteers from the Citizens Fire and Public Safety Volunteer Association teamed up to raise money to help out Copperas Cove firefighters.
Saturday afternoon, H-E-B employees cooked up and served hotdogs with chips and a drink for $2 and bratwursts along with chips and drinks for $3, the first of three fundraising events that H-E-B has planned. 
The money raised will purchase Kochek small hose washers for each of Copperas Cove’s three fire stations. 
The Citizens Fire and Public Safety Volunteers have already raised funds for one hose washer, but they want to have enough for when Copperas Cove gets its fourth fire station.
“Jennifer [Cotter, the administrative assistant for HEB] is really closely tied to the community and we found out that this was something that our fire department was in need of…and we wanted to see what we could do to help,” said Tim Smith, H-E-B’s General Manager. “We didn’t want to just volunteer to donate one, we wanted to do all three.”
Smith said it’s important to him to have the fundraiser because it would allow them to provide each fire station with a hose washer instead of all of the stations sharing one washer. The washers cost approximately $340 apiece, and H-E-B also plans to include a small plaque indicating that the washers were donated by the store. 
Jennifer Cotter said that they are trying to raise the money quickly because it will take several weeks for the Kochek company to make and send off the hose washers.
“They risk their lives every day for us, as far as going out there and fighting the fires, and if there’s anything we can do, or the Citizens Fire and Public Safety Volunteers can do, to make things easier for them then it’s a great idea to do,” said Cotter. “And H-E-B is always trying to find people out in the community that need our support, and this is one opportunity that came across our desk.”
Jerry Shepard and his wife, Kim Shepard, both members of the Citizen Fire and Public Safety Volunteers, were on hand to help. 
Jerry Shepard said that it’s important for him and his organization to raise money and support both the police and fire departments of Copperas Cove. 
“They’re going to need one in each station because they have so many hoses to wash,” said Shepard. “What it does is you put the hose in, and instead of them having to go out there and power wash each hose, you put it in this hose washer…in a matter of maybe 30 minutes, they can wash all of the hoses versus being out there all day trying to wash them all. It will make things a lot easier and nicer for the fire department.”