NASHUA – One of the mainstays of a firefighter’s routine in addition to answer calls, is sharing their meal with other members of the department, talking about their day and lately, the special rigors of the job.

Lt. Tom Wholey, of Station 1 on Amherst St., along with his fellow Lt. Andrew Martineau, came up with a plan to support local restaurants and caterers to feed the staff of the six firehouses in Nashua.

“Every day, one member per firehouse, is designated to go to the store the evening before or the morning of their shift, to buy groceries to cook two meals for their crews,” Wholey said. “Once the COVID-19 crisis started, it was just chaos in the grocery store and there was also the safety and well-being of our members to consider.”

A lot of firefighters thought they would just brown bag it, but Wholey said there’s a tradition of the camaraderie that brings all of the members together to sit and eat around the dinner table each day.

“That’s where we can kind of debrief and talk about stress a bit,” he said. “So, we started talking about how we could make something happen for our guys. We also realized that we could just go the route of getting groceries, but we thought ‘why don’t we support local businesses?”

The team saw area restaurants struggling – or closing. Many of the firefighters live in this community and as their mantra is to always put others before themselves, they realized that while it might cost extra money, the team wanted to keep people working in Nashua.

“It started with the Foundry in Manchester actually,” Wholey said. “They opened up their kitchen to us, to get the program started for our guys. So, as soon as we dug in, we thought we should really start reaching out.”

Wholey spoke to restauranteur Michael Buckley, Mike Conneely at Peddler’s Daughter, and others whose kitchens who were forced to close because of the pandemic and lack of foot traffic.

“In the first couple of days, we started looking around Nashua,” Wholey said. “It was a matter of logistics and finances. Our union is the big supporter here, because our guys can only afford so much and we have members whose wives have been effected with their jobs, the kids are home, and so instead of having to pay more, we kept that amount closer to what we would normally pay so it was economically feasible.”

The team reached out to Amy Strike of Celebrations Catering and Danelly’s sub shop and TJ’s Deli as well. Wholey said the firehouses needed lunch and dinner so they selected several restaurants and eateries who were happy to oblige.

“We asked Frank at TJ’s, ‘hey, would you like a day to provide us with food?'” he said. “And Frank said ‘absolutely.’ And then we reached out to Jan at Temple Street Diner, just to keep her and her employees going.”

McNulty & Foley Catering was also brought into the loop for meals.

“They lost some business,” Wholey said. “It’s lunch and dinner, we have 38 personnel, so that’s 76 meals these establishments are pumping out each day for us. We’re paying for it, but we’re happy to do it.”

Wholey said the team is thrilled that they’re supporting five local businesses in Nashua. The department kept the Foundry in the loop, not just because they opened their restaurant kitchen to the firefighters, but because Foundry owner Dean Kamen has been a major provider of personal protection equipment to those in the healthcare industry who desperately need it.

“For that alone, why don’t we just keep the Foundry going,” Wholey said. “They stepped up to get the program going. And we’re hoping our meal orders will help promote these businesses, even through just word of mouth on the fire department. This is good advertising for them, we hope, so after this whole thing is over, it might increase their business then.”

Even Michael Buckley has taken the time to speak with Wholey personally, to let him know that if things falls short, he would provide services. Wholey called the whole thing, “awesome.”

“Our members are on the frontline here, responding to emergencies,” Wholey said. “There is now a point in the day to change the conversation. ‘What’s for lunch?’ somebody will ask. It helps with that. This is a stressful job and the pandemic has changed the way we answer any call. We ask ourselves if we’re bringing this home to our family?”

Wholey, the department and the union are all thrilled to be able to give back to the community through these meals.

“We’re supporting local business and are able to give back to the community,” he said. “It’s just been such a great thing.”

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