FRESNO -   Madera and Sanger students will have a healthy start to the school year with access to new refillable water bottle stations thanks to a Kaiser Permanente Fresno grant.

Madera and Sanger Unified School Districts each received a $75,000 grant from Kaiser Permanente Fresno to purchase and install new refillable water bottle stations. Installation took place over the summer and now most of the schools in both districts have water stations available to students and staff.

“Most of them are up and running and the kids absolutely love them,” said Brian Chiarito, Director of Child Nutrition Services for Madera Unified. “They’re being used all of the time.”

Madera Unified installed 34 new water bottle stations at schools throughout the district. Sanger Unified has17 new stations – enough for two at almost every school in the district and plans to install several more, said Jimmy Robles, Director of Support Services for Sanger Unified.

“We’ve pretty much got them in locations that are heavily traveled and accessible, like in our cafeterias,” he said. “Kids are lining up to use them.”

Kaiser Permanente Fresno has given grants to install refillable water stations at schools throughout the Valley, including Fresno and Central Unified. The refillable stations are a good way to ensure students are drinking water throughout the school day.

“Drinking water keeps students healthy, so they can focus in the classroom,” Kaiser Permanente Fresno Chief of Pediatrics Casey Gray, MD, said. “We want to make it easy and convenient for students to have access to drinking water throughout the school day.”

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