By Allison Perrine
RED BANK – With high temperatures in the forecast this week, it’s important to stay hydrated and out of the summer sun for long periods of time. That’s why Red Bank offers residents and visitors places to get fresh water and places to cool down indoors – free of charge.
There are now three water refill stations spread throughout the borough. Anyone with a reusable bottle on-hand can simply press a button, hydrate with the dispensed filtered tap water and continue on their way. There is even a trough at the base of two stations that can be filled for thirsty pets, too.
“Access to water is important,” said Councilwoman Kate Triggiano, who has been working on the refill station project since 2017 alongside Clean Water Action, Indie Street Institute and Red Bank’s Green Team and Environmental Commission.
Since then, she and others applied for a Sustainable Jersey grant to fund the work and later were awarded $10,000 for the project. By 2018, the first of the three stations was installed; the last was installed within the past year. They are now available at Johnny Jazz Park, Riverside Gardens Park and in the White Street parking lot near Nemo Tile.
The stations have been individually designed by members of Naturehood Watch, a local group of artists who seek to “create beautiful, educational, and fun interpretive signage and engaging opportunities that involve people along their everyday paths and not-so-everyday detours,” its website states. The White Street parking lot refill station was designed by artist Tsz Lok Leung. It depicts a cartoon of people finding ways to “unite our community” through artistic expression and by drinking the filtered tap water, which can provide cleaner living spaces and reduce waste.
The refill station at Riverside Gardens Park features birds native to the area, like the osprey and tern, with information about the fowl in both English and Spanish.
“People love them,” Triggiano said of the refill stations.
Aside from water, those looking to stay cool this summer can visit cooling stations located throughout the Two River area. The Red Bank Public Library (RBPL) welcomes people for short periods of time and serves as an unofficial, temporary cooling station for those in need. Library staff are “as accommodating as possible, offering water bottles in heat and outerwear when it is cold,” according to Linda Hewitt, circulation supervisor and outreach and programming coordinator with the RBPL.
Pilgrim Baptist Church works with JBJ Soul Foundation to offer “resource days” for men in need in the Red Bank and surrounding areas. On the second and fourth Thursdays of each month, May through July, men in need are invited for dinner at Soul Kitchen of Red Bank from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Overnight accommodations and resources are also available at Pilgrim Baptist, and clothing distribution is available at Lunch Break. Individuals will have access to COVID-19 and other health screenings, sleeping areas, laundry, showers, computers, counseling, social services, snack bags, haircuts, hygiene supplies and more. The resource day hotline can be reached at 848-260-9076.
Other towns in the Two River area also have cooling stations, such as Fair Haven, which offers residents relief from the heat at Bicentennial Hall, 25 Cedar Ave.
Call your local borough hall to find out if cooling stations are available in your area.
The article originally appeared in the July 15 – 21, 2021 print edition of The Two River Times.
