Firehouse employees Carolyn Johnson and Marc Alexander watch as Fire Chief Charlie Catoe demonstrates the new thermal imaging camera. The Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation and Donavan Carr, franchise owner of the Firehouse Subs Restaurant in Spring Valley, presented a thermal imaging camera to the Pine Grove Volunteer Fire Department Thursday, January 15.

"We are incredibly appreciative to our community for their ongoing support and for their donations to our business, as well as the Public Safety Foundation," said Donavan Carr, owner of the Firehouse Subs in Spring Valley. "We feel rather fortunate to be able to present this thermal imager to the Pine Grove Fire Department which will better help them serve and protect our community."

Franchise owner Donavan Carr, area representative Ray Gowin for Southeast Interstate Group, and director of community programs Leslie Wildes presented on behalf of Firehouse Subs.

Chief Charlie Catoe, Assistant Chief Joel Mills, and firefighter Dennis Ray from the Glassy Mountain Fire Department were present. Also to represent Kershaw County, Councilman Jimmy Jones, Councilman CR Miles, Fire Marshal Gene Faulkenberry, Assistant Fire Marshal Keith Ray will be in attendance.

"On behalf of all the Pine Grove fire fighters, we are truly grateful for our new thermal imaging camera that the community and the Public Safety Foundation donated to us," explained Dennis Ray, grant writer to obtain the equipment. "It makes us feel more at ease knowing we can better protect our community and save more lives."

The funds raised for the donation are a compilation of different programs Firehouse Subs restaurants implement to continue the mission to help first responders. In addition, the restaurants sell fivegallon buckets of pickles for $2. They also place canisters on the counter to collect cash from daily customers for the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation.

During the month of October, all of the restaurants participate in the Fire Safety Campaign where customers have the opportunity to donate $1 or $5 to the Foundation to further the mission of giving back to emergency services.

The Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation, Inc., a 501 (c) (3), non- profit organization, is dedicated to improving the life- saving capabilities of emergency services in communities served by Firehouse Subs by providing funding, resources and support to public safety entities. The Foundation was created and founded by retired fire fighters, Robin and Chris Sorensen, in 2005 in order to make their commitment to public safety a focus for the company.

For more information on the Foundation, please visit their MySpace page at www.myspace.com/fspsf.