SIDNEY – The Sidney Rotary Club hosted its weekly luncheon on June 17 at the Rotary Shelter on Bertsch Hill in Sidney’s Tawawa Park.
The guest speaker for this meeting was Tom Martin, owner of Firehouse Subs in Sidney.
Martin said he and his wife, Becky, have been residents of Sidney for 20 years. Some years ago they decided to go into business for themselves. Firehouse Subs caught their eye early as they liked its food and, as importantly, respected its mission.
Firehouse Subs was founded by a family of firefighters in Jacksonville, Florida, Martin said. Initially they opened 30 stores. Today Firehouse Subs has opened 1,160 restaurants in 46 states as well as Puerto Rico and Ontario, Canada.
More than just a restaurant, the core value of Firehouse Subs and the mission of its foundation is to support firefighters and first responders who everyday save the lives of many people.
“The Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation donates a minimum of $1 million per year toward the purchase of equipment and other needs of our local heroes,” Martin said.
To date since 1995, $42 million has been donated by the company through its foundation.
At present the Martins own and operate two Firehouse Subs franchise stores, one in Cincinnati and a second in Sidney. Each store employs 12 individuals.
“Our plan is to open additional stores in Troy and Cincinnati once locations can be identified and approval secured from Firehouse Subs,” Martin said.
The Sidney store opened in 2017. Last August the store hosted an H2O for Heroes campaign in which guests could donate one case of water in exchange for one free sub sandwich. Martin said that in 2018 his Sidney store collected the equivalent of a one year supply of water that he donated to the Sidney Fire Department. A second H2O for Heroes campaign is planned for this August as well.
The Sidney Rotary Club is a member of Rotary International, the world’s largest service organization. The local club meets every Monday, typically at the Sidney American Legion Post No. 217 from noon to 1 p.m. Anyone interested in learning more about Sidney Rotary is invited to join a meeting or visit its website at www.sidneyrotaryclub.org.
