Parker’s gas stations won’t only be fueling the community with gasoline and diesel — the company will also soon be helping fuel local schools.
At its regular meeting Thursday, the Bryan County Board of Education approved a $1,000 donation from Parker’s Companies as a kick-start to the school system’s participation in the Fueling the Communities program.
“We are obviously very pleased,” Superintendent John Oliver said. “(The donation) is a nice start — a nice beginning for the money that might be available over time to the schools.”
Greg Parker, owner of Parker’s convenience stores, said the program started this summer as a way to give back to communities where their stores are located.
“There are so many worthy charities out there. But when you think about what’s the most important, we think it’s education,” Parker said. “When you improve education, everything else rises with it — the economy, services and the crime level goes down. Everything improves with higher education standards.”

Read more in the Dec. 17 edition of the News.