You're paying for a sandwich at Firehouse Subs when an employee asks if you want to round your bill up to the next dollar for charity. Ever wonder where that money goes?
Gainesville Fire Rescue is set to get $13,000 for a new thermal imaging device from that donation fund. The Gainesville City Commission is expected to approve the grant at its meeting today.
When firefighters get to a building, sometimes smoke keeps them from finding flames in walls or ceilings. The device will help firefighters extinguish fires faster by pointing out which areas in the building are hottest, Gainesville Fire Rescue Chief Gene Prince said.
He said his department has a device on each of its six fire engines, but the new device will be used to replace one that is about 11 years old.
"We're using these every day in what we do," Prince said. "Time's always of the essence."
He said the device could also be used to find people who are in burning buildings, but the department hasn't needed to use it for that purpose yet.
Meghan Bender, community programs manager for Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation, said grant money comes from several types of donations, including selling leftover five-gallon pickle buckets for $2 and collecting money when customers agree to round up their bill to the next dollar.
That money gets pooled from each Firehouse Subs restaurant into the grant program. Organizations can submit proposals for funding, and a board of directors decides which proposals to fund.
Bender said an organization must be located within 30 miles of a Firehouse Subs restaurant in order to be considered for a grant.
