Isabella student Jesse Arthur, 13, recently presented Brent Conway, fire chief of the Isabella Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department, with a check for $1,000 he and his mother Rebecca won in a sweepstakes.

Rebecca, who researches sweepstakes as a hobby, entered the Krusteaz Gives Back Sweepstakes online and discovered about two weeks later, on April 5, they were grand prize winners.

Ten winners received the opportunity to nominate an eligible community organization of their choice to receive a $1,000 check.

“Of course I was excited,” said Rebecca. “I thought it needed to be a family decision, so I let him [Jesse] decide which organization it needed to go to.”

According to his mom, when Jesse found out they were grand prize winners and was asked what he was going to do with the money, he immediately said, “I want to give it to the Isabella Fire Department.”

“I wanted to give it to the fire department, one, because they volunteer to do it,” said Arthur. “And because they came here a few times over the past couple of years.”

Jesse and his mother presented the department with the check May 24.

“We are very appreciative and thankful he thought of us; it’s very unusual for a child this day to want to donate money to a fire department. He was very thoughtful for that,” said Conway. “We are thankful and grateful for the donation. It will be used for equipment to better service our community.”

The firemen gave Jesse a tour of the facility and explained what their equipment does and how it is used. He also rode in one of the fire trucks for the first time and took photos with the firemen.

“We thank the volunteer fire department for all they do,” said Rebecca.