AUSTIN -- As hot as things are in Central Texas -- it's often much hotter for U.S. troops serving overseas.
That's why AT&T is teaming up with UT's Student Veteran Association, the Girl Scouts, Home Depot and the Round Rock Express to collect bottles of water.
It's called Operation Hydration. Friday people were collecting water outside the Erwin Center.
All of it will be delivered to the U.S.O. at Fort Hood, which provides critical services for soldiers.
"When we were in Iraq and Afghanistan, they were there as we were coming in on leave providing water, food, all sorts of services. Services that are very needed for soldiers because sometimes we're just lost. We need a friend to help us out, and the U.S.O. has always been there. So what we're doing here is, as veterans, is we're basically paying our dues back. We're doing something for people who've done something for us," explains Stephen Ollar, president of the Student Veterans Association.
Similar events were held in Dallas, Fort Worth, Waco and Richardson. The goal is to collect at least 2,500 cases of water for the military. That's 60,000 bottles.
