Beer company supplies drinking water to Porterville
There was a welcome delivery from a beer company in the South Valley on Friday. Anheuser-Busch's local distributor is hoping to help out with the drought.
PORTERVILLE, Calif. (KFSN) -- Anheuser-Busch made a special delivery in Porterville on Friday, but they were not carrying their usual load. The beer company's local distributor Sequoia Beverage Company donated 50,000 cans of drinking water to the community.
East Porterville is suffering from the drought. Some families have been without water for more than a year because their wells are dry.
"We need this water, and we need much more water," said Pastor Roman Hernandez.
Hernandez's church Iglesia Emmanuel has become the home for portable showers run by Tulare County. People can take a hot shower and pick up some drinking water at the same time.
"These are our customers, these are our friends and neighbors," said Manny Mendoza with Sequoia Beverage Company.
Mendoza explains this water is canned in Georgia specifically for emergencies. This donation is one of the biggest given to East Porterville.
"The water donation that we're doing is just a drop in the bucket; it's not gonna solve the problem," said Mendoza.
New numbers show there are 911 dry wells in Tulare County. A map shows the majority of them are in East Porterville.
"We're thanking everybody for this," said Hernandez.
News of the delivery traveled fast as cars began pulling in, loading up and leaving filled with fresh water.
Sequoia Beverage Company says this is only the first donation; they plan on requesting more water from Anheuser-Busch right away.
