'Operation Hydration' gives H2O to USO

They call it “Operation Hydration.”

Friday, members of the University of Texas Austin Student Veterans Association set up camp out side the Frank Erwin Center. They braved the heat to collect bottled water so active duty soldiers will remain hydrated.

The student veterans collected about a thousand cases of bottled water before moving on to the Dell Diamond in Round Rock to collect more.

The water will be donated to the USO at Fort Hood . The USO provides critical services for soldiers, but it operates on private donations, not government money. The vets remember how the USO was there for them when they were deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Stephen Ollar is a leader of the Student Veterans Association.

"They were there to provide food, water, emotional support," Ollar said. "It's a valuable service and it feels good. It's important that I can give back to that service that I was able to take advantage of."

Similar water drives were held Friday in other parts of Texas.

For more information about how to donate to the USO, go to TeamUSO.org.