A box fan – it’s a handy thing to have this time of year. With temperatures regularly reaching the upper 90s, those without fans or air conditioning aren’t just uncomfortable, but also subject to heat stroke and heat exhaustion. That’s why the Orange County Sheriff Department is issuing a challenge.

Jonathan Daniel is a corporal at the Orange County Sheriff’s office and is helping to coordinate what they call, the box fan challenge.

“We’re always trying to bridge the gap,” Daniel said.

The department is trying to bridge the gap between law enforcement and the community – as well as between 350 donated fans and the people who need them. The box fan challenge began at the beginning of July and asks community members to donate fans for people without air conditioning.

“We partnered with Home Depot and immediately they donated fans as well which was really cool,” Daniel said. “And it got so big that people started coming and saying that home depot is out of fans.”

Daniel said it was Sheriff Charles Blackwood who brought the challenge to Orange County after hearing about the Darlington South Carolina Police Department’s fan drive. From there, the Orange County fan challenge took off.

“It’s funny, when we first kicked off and they started flooding in, we kind of panicked for a moment because we had an idea of where to take the first 20 or 30 fans but they kept coming. So we said, ‘Okay let’s start reaching out and see who can help us.’”

The challenge encourages individuals or entire organizations to donate fans, have their picture taken and then challenge a new group of people to donate. The challenge has created a cycle, Daniel said, with overwhelming support from all areas of the community.

“It was just phenomenal with person after person coming saying, ‘I brought you a fan,’ or ‘I brought you three fans.’ And then business started coming and bringing 10 and 20 fans. We’ve even had a few churches come out here.”

So far the department has distributed 174 fans to people in need with the help of senior citizen homes, community centers and other local businesses. Any fans left over at the end of the summer will be stored for next year. But in the mean time, Daniel said they’re already thinking about a winter challenge.

“After the summer who knows, we may start looking at a space heater challenge for the winter when it gets cold. There are a lot of folks who are shut-ins who are going to need heat. But in the meantime, I think throughout the summer as long as it’s hot we’re going to keep taking them.”

The department is still accepting donations of 20 inch box fans Monday through Friday, from 8:00am-5:00pm and encourages anyone who needs a fan to contact their office.

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