ALTON - A few lucky customers were surprised with $20 of free gas on Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023, courtesy of Mustache March 4PD (MM4PD).
MM4PD is a local nonprofit that supports local police departments in honor of late Police Officer Blake Snyder. Every year, they choose a day to surprise customers at Hit N Run with free gas, and they gave away over $2,500 worth of gas on Saturday with the help of Hit N Run owner Dwight Fowler and gas distributor JD Streett/ZX.
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“Especially this time of year, people take all the help they can get,” said Tina Bennett, vice president of MM4PD. “Our group, Mustache March 4PD, we support all the local police departments…We give away a bunch of freebies just to let people know that the police officers are good guys. We just want that rapport between the community and the police officers to stay positive, and that’s a really good way of doing it, by giving back to the community.”
MM4PD gives each person $20 worth of gas until they run out of funds. They chose to do this at the Alton Hit N Run location this year, located at 2345 State Street.
Officers with the Alton Police Department were present on Saturday to pump the gas and chat with community members. Bennett explained that they never announce when they plan to do the gas giveaway, so it’s “a nice surprise for a lot of people.”
This was the fifth year for the giveaway. Hit N Run franchise owners Dwight Fowler and his wife Teresa said they are always eager to be a part of the event, and they will often match MM4PD’s donation.
“We try to give back to the community every year. We have the police officers come here and they do the pumping of the gas, just to get people involved with the police. It’s been a lot of fun every year,” Dwight said. “It helps out. Everything helps out.”
With approximately $2,500, MM4PD provided gas for around 125 people. Bennett noted that word usually spreads quickly after the day begins, so MM4PD will field dozens of cars at once. They usually walk away with a few powerful stories from the people they help.
“One year we had a pretty big traffic jam once people were giving away free gas,” she added. “We’ve heard a lot of great stories. We had a grandmother tell us one year how much she appreciated it just because she couldn't decide if she’d have gas money to go to church or to get groceries at the grocery store, and now she could do both…A lot of the funds we use to give back to the community through the police officers.”
For more information about Mustache March 4PD, check out the official MM4PD website or Facebook page.
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