The Costco Connection - December 2018

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First responder support

After personally witnessing the devastation from Hurricane Katrina, brothers and ex-firefighters Robin and Chris Sorensen (above, left to right), discovered how a disaster could destroy first responder equipment that was essential to saving lives.

So, in 2005, the founders of the Firehouse Subs restaurants started a foundation: Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation ( firehousesubsfoundation.org).

The foundation supports first
responders, whether they are
contending with a disaster or
just struggling to afford equip-
ment. Robin says, “It became
clear that first responder
entities across the nation
simply lacked the funding for
equipment to do their jobs.”
The brothers receive
thousands of requests
for basic tools, including
automated external defibrilla-
tors (AEDs). “AEDs are a
common request and what
we award the most,” Robin
adds. “For example, police
officers often arrive on the
scene first. Having an AED
in the police cruiser allows
officers to attend to victims of
cardiac arrest immediately.”
Since its beginning,
their foundation has granted
more than $37 million to
hometown heroes.

No place like home

Gilbert, Arizona, has one of the highest median household incomes in the U.S. It’s also a city where, despite great wealth, there is great need, with a large homeless population.

Randy Dix and his daughter, Janine Igliane, the owners of a successful real estate company, know that all too well, as two of their own family members have relied on public services to get back on their feet.

In 2013, the two started a food drive in Gilbert’s Power Ranch community, a subdivision of more than 4,000 houses— many of which they had helped clients buy or sell.

Every November, Dix and Igliane drop off an empty grocery sack at each home and ask the families to fill it with nonperishable food donations. Participants then leave the filled grocery sack by their garage door and the two pick it up. “We drive every street in Power Ranch, picking up the grocery sacks full of food,” says Dix.

The food is then delivered to House of Refuge ( houseofrefuge.org), a nonprofit that provides housing for families with children that are struggling to get by.