TYLER, Texas — Due to the dangerous heat we have faced recently, one nonprofit has run out of fans to provide for those depending on them.
"I really like working with people and they've given to me in the past and it helps out a lot of people," volunteer Felicia Cameron said.
The People Attempting To Help organization kicked off their annual summer fan drive, but within the first two weeks, they ran out of fans for the people they serve.
"Heat is one of the number one killers of people especially elderly people that are compromised in some way, fans are very cheap to run about 10 seconds a day so when money is tight that’s a way, they can cool off the family," Marketing Director Kimberly Meler said.
The organization hands out one fan per family every other year and this year, they were able to serve more than 100 new families.
"We want to make sure we can serve as many families as possible," Meler said.
The new orders the organization receives from companies have been backed up for weeks, and since then they have been doing their best.
"We’re doing the best we can, and those fans are going to come in at some point," Meler said.
But in the meantime, they ask if anybody can purchase or donate funds that can be used to purchase them. Despite the fan shortage, they have set aside some fans ahead of an event coming up.
"Next week, July 22nd starting at 10 a.m. with Meals on Wheels we will be partnering with them to distribute some fans that we had pulled aside for the event," Meler said.