LEARY FIREFIGHTERS FOUNDATION
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Mission Statement
The Leary Firefighters Foundation provides funding and resources for fire departments to acquire the best available equipment, technology, and training necessary for the health and safety of firefighters and in turn, the public they serve.
About This Cause
Founded in 2000 by actor Denis Leary in response to the 1999 Cold Storage Warehouse fire tragedy in his native Worcester, Massachusetts, The Leary Firefighters Foundation (LFF) is dedicated to helping maintain the highest level of public safety in our communities, meeting the vital needs of fire departments and helping fill the gaps between the limits of government funding. In addition to providing funding and resources for fire departments, LFF has assisted in disaster recovery, and in the past provided assistance to families of firefighters that have perished in the line of duty. To date, LFF has raised more than $10 million for first responders in Worcester, Boston, New York, New Jersey and New Orleans. The Foundation has also distributed more than $1.9 million to the families of the 343 firefighters who lost their lives on September 11th, 2001. Funds raised since LFF’s inception have financed the construction of a new burn tower and training facility that serves the fire departments of Worcester and central Massachusetts, as well as the purchase of a Tactical Command Vehicle for the Boston Fire Department and a Mobile Command Unit for the FDNY. LFF also funded a high-speed fire rescue boat for the Boston Fire Department’s protection of Boston Harbor and a state-of-the-art $4.5 million High Rise Simulator dedicated in 2008 to the FDNY training campus in Randall’s Island to support their training in combating potentially catastrophic high rise fires. In 2012, the Foundation dedicated a new Special Operations truck to the Worcester Fire Department to haul a new foam trailer and technical rescue trailer containing vital equipment necessary to perform trench and other problematic rescue efforts. After the devastation of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, the Foundation rebuilt 11 firehouses in flood-ravaged New Orleans. Seven years later, the Foundation took lessons learned there to establish the Leary Firefighters Hurricane Sandy Relief Fund for firefighters in the areas affected by the storm, marking the first time LFF funded individuals along with volunteer and union department personnel eligible for the program. In June 2013, the Foundation began accepting donations in support of the training and equipment needs of firefighters in Detroit. LFF was inspired to expand funding to Detroit by BURN, an unprecedented documentary executive produced by Board members Denis Leary and Jim Serpico that chronicles the lives of the heroic men of Detroit’s Engine Company 50, one of the busiest firehouses in America. Thanks to proceeds from BURN, in May 2014 the Foundation donated over $260,000 worth of rescue and safety equipment to the Detroit Fire Department. Working in conjunction with the Detroit Fire Department and manufacturer MSA, LFF was able to identify the equipment, including Thermal Imaging Cameras and CO Detectors which the Detroit Fire Department sorely needed. Denis Leary, Jim Serpico and BURN filmmakers Brenna Sanchez and Tom Putnam presented the equipment to Detroit Fire Commissioner Edsel Jenkins and Mayor Mike Duggan at a press conference in a local firehouse with hundreds of firefighters on hand to show their support. In January 2015, the Foundation piloted its first leadership training program at the FDNY Fire Academy on Randall’s Island in New York. The program, administered by Mission-Centered Solutions, Inc. (MCS) and hosted by the FDNY, brought together twenty-four carefully selected firefighters and first responders from New York, Boston and Worcester. The five-day course provided training to foster leadership and command skills so that leaders can build more cohesive, adaptive, and resilient teams. In June 2015 LFF, in partnership with the Northeast Chapter of The Dunkin’ Donuts & Baskin-Robbins Community Foundation, launched its second leadership course, this time in Boston. LFF has also held courses in Newark, NJ (October 2015) and Philadelphia (January 2016). To date, ninety-five firefighters and first responders have completed the LFF-sponsored course. The Foundation is committed to helping to shape the next generation of leaders in the fire service and first responder communities and plans to continue to offer this program to fire departments, with interest from departments as far away as California and Texas. On May 4, 2015 – International Firefighters’ Day – LFF launched a social media campaign to raise awareness of these brave men and women. Anchored by the hashtag #BraveEveryDay, LFF set out to celebrate firefighters who run into burning buildings while the rest of us are running out. In 2015 and 2016, the campaign garnered a combined 55 million impressions and spread gratitude and appreciation to firefighters worldwide.