Save Lives With Five-Gallon Pickle Bucket

A new eatery that opened Tuesday in Chesterfield on Clarkson Road has a foundation that saves lives when you carry out a 5-gallon pickle bucket for $2.

(in same shopping center as ) hosts the Public Safety Foundation in conjunction with the sandwich shop started by two firemen brothers in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1994.

Go see a close-up of my sandwich on Facebook.

The Sorensen brothers launched the Firehouse Subs foundation in 2005 after feeding Hurricane Katrina rescue workers some 20,000 pounds of food and water, officials said.

The giant plastic pickle buckets for sale for $2 are fire engine red with a handle and lid—with a big foundation logo on one side, and on the other: "The Official Pickle Bucket."

And until you wash it further, it has the delicious aroma of 300 Kosher pickle spears that were packed in it. You get a pickle with your Firehouse sub, if you want it.

The two dollars for the bucket go to the Safety Foundation. The bucket is good for an iced brew bucket, gardening, a penny bucket, washing the car, and more.

Got your own ideas? See how Chesterfield Patch editor already found a use for it, in photo here. 

The funds from the 501(c)(3) go to buy first-responders across the nation life-saving equipment, up-to-date fire prevention and rescue education, and disaster preparedness.

Firehouse Subs franchise owner Robert Phillips said one of the first items purchased with foundation funds—a high-tech Zoll Auto-Pulse compression machine, brought a man back to life from a heart attck, in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina.

"A pickle bucket saved my life," Francisco Tuttle said, according to Foundation materials.

A public safety organization may apply for a grant from the foundation online through FirehouseSubs.com.

Firefighters get free drinks from Chesterfield's Firehouse Subs, Phillips said. This is the first shop in the St. Louis area. There is one in Kansas City, Phillips said.

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