The Trussville Rotary Daybreak Club has partnered with the Trussville Police Department to fund and create “Crisis Buckets.” The buckets will be useful for unexpected disasters such as weather events, school shootings or chemical spills on the roadways or railroad tracks near a school.

In a disaster event, students and teachers may be secured inside classrooms for an extended period of time until the danger is eliminated and rescue teams arrive to release students and teachers from the school. While in lockdown, the buckets provide a way for students and teachers to relieve their bladders (the cat litter and the bucket) and stay hydrated while remaining safe in the confines of the classroom until the crisis has ended.

The buckets will consist of 300 Home Depot buckets, 300 bags of cat litter, 300 cases of small water bottles (donated by a local church), 600 rolls of toilet paper and 8 cases of trail mix.

Trussville City School Nurses and School Resource Officers will train teachers on the purpose, use and maintenance of the buckets. Trussville Daybreak Rotary Club will fund the project, partially through a grant from Rotary International, as well as assemble and deliver the buckets to school classrooms. Home Depot employees have also expressed interest in assembling and delivering the buckets.

Additional partners on this project were The Home Depot, Trussville; Target, Trussville; Pet Supplies Plus, Trussville, and the Trussville Police Department.

The Rotary International motto is ‘Service above Self,’ and this club lives out this motto by serving the community in many ways. Proceeds from fundraising events, including the coordination of a golf tournament for more than 30 years, go toward the club’s many projects. Those projects include leadership opportunities for local high school students, lunch for campers and staff at Smile-a-Mile, trees planted at Civitan Park and more. The Club funded the clock tower in downtown Trussville, benches at the walking track at Cahaba Elementary, and playground equipment at The Mall in historic Trussville. The Trussville Rotary Daybreak Club meets at First Baptist Church Trussville on Wednesday mornings at 7 a.m.

For more information on the club, or to help with one of its projects, ‘like’ them on Facebook (Trussville Rotary Daybreak Club), ‘follow’ on Instagram, or email Diane Poole at dlpoole1225@gmail.com.