Rowan County Rescue Chief Bobby Parnell said the county applied for the grant several months ago and the funds will come after the start of the next fiscal year in July.

“We absolutely appreciate this grant from Duke Energy that will allow us to continue to maintain the proper equipment for response,” said Parnell. “Rowan Rescue has been in existence for more than 70 years, and during that time, we have always had the necessary equipment to respond quickly and well. This grant will allow us to stay on that trajectory by replacing some aging equipment.”

He said the county is pricing swift water and flood water equipment and wet suits, considered PPE for staff, and the grant will likely cover the bulk of the cost. He added that the Rowan County Board of Commissioners and county manager had been “very good to us in this year’s budget, which we very much appreciate, because we’d been a bit behind. I always say we have great support from them, from surrounding first responder organizations and from the community.” And protecting all of the people in the county is the foundation of the rescue squad’s mission, so updating equipment is essential.

“Our Zodiac is more than 30 years old, and it has served us well, but new equipment will give us a bit faster response times with even better outcomes,” Parnell said. With High Rock Lake, the second largest lake in North Carolina, and the Yadkin River being in the organization’s response area, crews want to be prepared.

Parnell said last year when Helene hit, it made first responder crews across the area aware of weak spots that had not come to light until then because there had not been an event of that magnitude in recent history. Much of the equipment has changed over the years so new, better options have also become available.

Duke Energy Foundation is empowering local organizations that know their communities best with the resources they need to be successful. In fact, Duke Energy Foundation has supported more than 100 local emergency response organizations during the past five years with more than $1.8 million in grant funding to advance storm preparedness in North Carolina.

“Last storm season underscored the resilience of our North Carolina communities,” said Kendal Bowman, Duke Energy’s North Carolina president. “Proactive collaboration with local emergency response organizations is necessary to ensure that communities are prepared to maintain that resilience. We are committed to helping equip our growing state with the tools necessary to stay safe during the upcoming storm season.”

Parnell said a number of organizations applied for the grant, and different communities discovered different weak spots that need to be addressed.

“Pender County, along with many coastal communities/counties, is one disaster from losing the communications we use every day,” said Tommy Batson, Pender County Emergency Management Director and another recipient of a HERO grant. Pender County was an area hit hard by Helene and his organization learned as well the needs brought to light by the impact of the storm. In his area, it was the loss of communications that created a bit of a crisis. “Tropical Storm Helene hit western North Carolina in the fall of 2024 and the everyday radio communication, cell service and internet were lost. Pender County, along with many other agencies from across the country, had never seen this. This grant from Duke Energy will help us bridge this gap during the next event.”

Other grant recipients, in addition to Rowan County Rescue and Pender County Emergency Management, include Anson County, the Town of Beaufort, Belews Creek Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department, Buncombe County, Cherokee County Emergency Management, Gastonia Police Foundation, County of Granville, Henderson County, Jones County Emergency Management, Lee County Emergency Management, McDowell County, Piedmont Triad Regional Development Corporation, Town of Pittsboro, City of Raleigh, Rockingham County, Town of St. Pauls, Wake County Government, and Wilmington Area Rebuilding Ministry.

Duke Energy Foundation provides more than $30 million annually in philanthropic support to meet the needs of communities where Duke Energy customers live and work. The foundation is funded by Duke Energy shareholders.