Bring in two box fans and get a thousand dollars off the down payment on a car.
Brilliant! And it worked.
Car-Mart in Pine Bluff has a promotion every summer, and this year's was to bring in a box fan for senior citizens and the disabled. The business got 67. And they're all headed for the Area Agency on Aging for Southeast Arkansas.
One of the officials from that outfit said the agency's goal for Jefferson County is 300, although they can always use more. That's where you come in -- or can come in. If you're interested in helping out, you can just contact the agency and arrange to drop one or a dozen off. They're about two bucks a pop so about the equivalent of going out to get burgers.
Why box fans? Well, for one, the agency only gets in a handful of air conditioners each year so it's not realistic to promise those.
We were also told that box fans are what many people prefer. That could be for any number of reasons. A window unit AC is expensive to operate, and these folks, if they are asking for a fan, likely don't have the extra cash to pay the additional cost of electricity that a window unit uses. But the older folks, especially, just want a breeze and don't like the super-chilled air that comes out of an air conditioner, officials said.
The Area Agency on Aging covers a broad area of southeast Arkansas, 10 counties in fact. And these "beat the heat" fan drives are going on in any number of communities.
And summer is about to do its thing. Just a couple of days ago, it was in the mid-90s. And now the phone at the agency has started to ring with people getting in line for fans. The agency usually waits until July to start distributing them, but an official said that, considering the urgency, it will start on Tuesday.
As one person with the agency put it, it's not just the heat that an Arkansas summer can bring; it's the humidity. Whew, yes, we can all agree with that.
So, good work, Car-Mart, for making this happen, and let's all step up and help fill out the 300 fans the agency is wanting, and if it gets more than that, we're sure the extras will be put to good use.