Photo: Mike Dickerson from DM Services in Davison on left, John Kupiec from Firehouse Subs Brighton on the right
John Kupiec, area representative for Firehouse Subs, in partnership with Mike Dickerson of local business D&M Services Pro, are providing 140 lunches per day to local medical professionals, hospital staff, military veterans, senior citizens and children, having delivered over 800 meals to date. The community helped raised over $9,000 to support the meal donations, and since the partnership started “copycat” ideas have surfaced around the country.
The efforts began as collaboration between Dickerson, whose wife is a nurse for Hurley, and Firehouse Subs. Dickerson contacted Kupiec to ask how they could help nurses working in the ICU and NICU units who were working diligently to help save lives during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dickerson’s wife is currently home raising her family, but Dickerson said other nurses were putting in a lot of overtime and having a hard time getting food into their areas. Dickerson went on Facebook and put a message out to the community letting community members know that through the partnership they would be helping to feed local hospital workers and first responders and was able to get financial support from local residents and businesses.
“We’ve been to McLaren twice a day on two occasions,” Kupiec said. “We have made four drops to Genesys. We’ve been to Hurley Medical Center five times, and each time we go there it’s a 70 box lunch order. We’ve been to the VA and served 35 meals. We did 70 at the Abbey Park Assisted Living Center in Grand Blanc. We did 70 at Whaley Children’s Center. We did 35 for the Grand Blanc Police Department, and we did an additional 35 for the Michigan State Police on Corunna Road.”
On April 9, the group delivered meals to the Lapeer County Hospital.
Kupiec is also a franchisee, owning restaurants in Novi and Brighton.
“I decided to give a 20% reductions for the box lunches to make their money go further. Then, I deliver the food from Brighton to the various hospitals we deliver food to. The idea was to try to make sure that the people who are working so hard to keep our community safe have the nourishment they need while they’re on the job to keep working and not have to leave the facility,” Kupiec said.
The lunches are delivered during lunch period.
“Then, we come back for dinner between 6-7:30 so we can handle both the day shift and the night shift.”
The lunches provided consists of a signature sandwich, such as hook and ladder-honey ham, smoked turkey breast, Monterey jack cheese, lettuce, onion and tomato with a side of mayonnaise and mustard. Another sandwich option is the Italian, consisting of honey ham, salami, pepperoni, provolone cheese, lettuce, tomato and onion-also with mayonnaise and mustard on the side. The third sandwich option is the engine company; smoked turkey breast and roast beef with Monterey jack cheese, mayonnaise, tomato, onion and deli mustard. The medical workers and first responders also get a bag of chips and a freshly baked cookie.
Dominic Foster of Patriot Ambulance Company has donated water and chewing gum, as well as face masks for the lunch recipients.
“They are very appreciative of the fact we think of them,” Kupiec said. They’re working a lot of hours. They are tired. They are worn out. We get a big ‘thank you.’ But, we can’t hug due to social distancing. We normally hand the food off at the entrance of the facility. All the food is prepared and packaged so there’s no cross contamination. You’d always like to see a first reaction from somebody who gets to enjoy the meal. But, the reaction we get from the people delivering the meal is fantastic.”
Firehouse Subs was started by first responders-two brothers; Robin and Chris Sorensen, who were firefighters for the Jacksonville Fire Department. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina they went to New Orleans and saw the devastation.
“They said ‘we are first responders, and we think we can be a benefit to the first responder community nationwide.’ So, they started the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation in 2005.”
There are 1,182 Firehouse Subs restaurants nationwide.
“We collect money from our guests and from our employees on a regular basis, and we raise money so we can buy equipment first responders need.”
This could include jaws of life, respirators, an air tank or other equipment needed by fire departments, police stations, ambulances or other first responders. Through the Public Safety Foundation departments can ask for a grant. In Michigan, Firehouse Subs has helped to reward about $1.3 million worth of grants. Firehouse Subs also sells the restaurants’ pickle buckets, which used to go in landfills.
“Thus far our brand has rewarded more than $50 million worth of firefighter and first responder equipment throughout the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada.”
It was in the spirit of these efforts that Kupiec and Dickerson were inspired to start their endeavor.
“It’s been a wonderful experience because it shows how the community can come together and do good things for each other.”
Kupiec said they will continue delivering the meals as long as they have a place to take them, and he thanks everyone who donated to help keep the community safe.
In Washington D.C. there is a similar effort called Feed the Fight. The effort involves a conglomeration of restaurants.
“It shows the power of social media…We’re all in this together.”
For details or to donate, visit Mike Dickerson on Facebook.
