ROSEWOOD HEIGHTS - The Rosewood Heights Fire Department received a makeover from local Lowe’s employees who stopped by to renovate the space and give back to the fire department’s volunteers.
The Lowe’s Hometowns program encourages each store to complete a project that will improve their hometowns. Twelve volunteers from the Alton and Glen Carbon stores gathered at the fire department on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023, to remodel the department’s recreation and dispatch areas.
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“We don’t have the time to do a lot of this type of work, or the funds,” said Corey Williams, Rosewood Heights fire chief. “Our members are putting in so much time training and responding to calls that having a corporation like Lowe's come out and not only pay for it all but also volunteer their time and their employees to help do some of the work — it’s amazing. Small departments like us, it’s stuff like this that keeps us going.”
The Lowe’s Hometown program gives every store $2,500 to spend on a project. The Alton and Glen Carbon stores banded together in support of the Rosewood Heights Fire Department, where the son of a store supervisor volunteers.
The Rosewood Heights Fire Department is made up of 30 volunteers who respond to approximately 400 calls a year. Previously, their recreation/training space and dispatch office were in the same room. The Lowe’s renovation has enclosed the dispatch office, updated the recreation/training space and added more storage for equipment.
“We also promised them a new picnic table and we’re bringing them a firepit today, and then doing some painting, and just trying to give back to the community that serves us. We’re pretty excited about that,” explained Alton store manager Kayla Christe. “We’re just a company that appreciates the communities that shop with us, and we definitely try to give back to those communities as much as we possibly can.”
This sentiment is familiar to Williams and his department. The firefighters put in many hours a week, unpaid, so they can respond to emergencies and keep the community safe. Williams expressed pride for his firefighters and voiced the department’s appreciation to the Lowe’s employees.
“It means a lot to us. Not just me, but our whole department,” Williams said. “We have quite a few people in our community that care and want to come up and help out their fellow people.”
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