Allhands: They were thirsty, and Mesa gave them a drink

Never say that people in Mesa don't care about the less fortunate.

And the thirsty.

Businesses and residents donated 836,154 water bottles during the summer's Hydration Donation campaign, blowing the doors off the city's 400,000 bottle goal. Last year, the effort netted 392,044 bottles for United Food Bank and other organizations that help the poor and homeless.

There were several big corporate donors: Valley Transit Constructors donated 195,600 bottles it had used in a safety test. The Eastmark development collected 6,893 bottles. Keller Williams Integrity First Realty handed off another 6,300 bottles.

But those and others mentioned in a city press release only make up about a quarter of what was donated. That means a whole lot of regular Mesa residents donated cases to the cause.

I can imagine that if John Goodie is reading this, he's got tears in his eyes. The now-retired city park ranger helped start the campaign several years ago after seeing homeless folks struggle in 110-degree heat. I bet he never thought it would grow this large.

But I know how much faith he placed in the goodness of people. When the cause is good and the donation easy, they'll step up. Big time.

And they did. It's like it says in Matthew 25: The "least of these" were thirsty, and Mesa residents gave them a drink.