First came $525,000, then $134,000 and then $37,269—all in about a month.

And after the three helpings of grant money were announced for Whitmire, Mayor Tim Carroll says he’s glad for the financial aid.

“I like it,” said Carroll smiling. “I think we just do the right things to get them.”

Carroll says he and others in the town have worked hard writing grant requests since Renfro’s January closing.

And why not? The money has to go to someone, says Carroll.

“The one thing about grants, they’re out there...They’re going to give it out,” he said.

The $525,000 was awarded to the town by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to replace the waterline that runs from the Enoree River to the Whitmire water treatment plant.

Then the Whitmire Police Department received $37,269 through a Justice Assistance grant for a new Chevrolet Tahoe police vehicle and new laptop computers for the entire police department fleet, four bulletproof vests and new federally-mandated traffic safety vests.

“There’s a lot of things we wouldn’t be able to do without (the grants),” Carroll said.

The town’s recent $134,000 federal grant will buy a new trash truck and garbage cans for residents.

The new 30 cubic yard truck will replace the town’s former 20 cubic yard truck, which Carroll says the town plans to sell.

Residences will receive the new tan-colored trashcans that “hold about six (trash) bags, maybe seven,” said Carroll.

The town picked the distinct tan-colored cans to be easily distinguishable from other municipality cans.

The trashcans are worth about $70 a piece and have around a 10-year warranty, said Carroll.

“So we can not have them disappearing,” he said.

The grant money will also usher in a new trash pick up system for the town.

Carroll said the town’s trash pick-up area will be halved.

“We’ll probably split it somewhere around the caution light,” said Carroll.

The new larger-sized truck and pick up system “will save us a great amount in the time and fuel,” said Carroll.

The town will begin ensuring its trash truck drivers are licensed to operate the new vehicle. Carroll said the town would pay for necessary schooling for the three available drivers.

Jimmy Dunaway, Whitmire’s director of public works, estimates the trash cans will arrive in about a month, and the truck will arrive in 90 days.

However, the trashcans still have to be put together. Each can will have the town name, number and a seal, which names the can to a specific residence.

Whitmire’s $134,000 federal grant was announced in August. The town must add $44,000 of its own money to the total.