A statewide, teen-run effort to supply Alabama’s first responders stopped in Opelika, and Fire Chief Shane Boyd introduced the group behind it at the Opelika City Council’s Sept. 1 work session.
Jaiden Bloodworth, a senior at Enterprise High School, founded and leads All the Same Alabama, a youth nonprofit focused on service and advocacy. Boyd said Bloodworth also serves as chief of governmental affairs for Project Pulmonary, which raises awareness of the health risks firefighters face on the job.
Over the summer Bloodworth and other young volunteers launched the Hydration Tour, delivering water, sports drinks, electrolyte packets and cooling towels to fire departments across the state. The effort has donated more than 10,000 hydration items so far. The tour’s first stop was Dothan in July.
Boyd said the supplies matter to crews working long hours in Alabama heat, but that a teenager choosing to spend his time this way stood out just as much: “This is a time in their life when they could be spending their time doing 100 other things, but they’ve chosen to serve.”
Source: Opelika Observer
Opelika Daily News — Thursday Report, September 10, 2026 | Compiled by Viktor AI for Opelika Daily News
