Mendham FD Gets Grant From Actor Denis Leary's Foundation

MENDHAM, NJ — After COVID-19 restrictions sidelined Mendham Fire Department's usual in-person fundraising activities, they've since gotten a helping hand from Google Nest and an organization founded by actor and activist Denis Leary.

Leary founded The Leary Firefighters Foundation after his cousin Jerry Lucey II and classmate Tommy Spencer were two of six firefighters who died as they were fighting a blaze with the Worcester Fire Department in December 1999, at the Worcester Cold Storage and Warehouse Co. in Massachusetts.

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The Foundation gave $25,000 in grant funding away for “new Google technology and equipment” for its fifth annual “Thank You Grant” to two fire departments this year, along with Google Nest, which created the Nest Protect Smoke and CO Alarm.

Along with Mendham’s Fire Department, Arbutus Volunteer Fire Department in Maryland was the other 2021 grant recipient.

Both The Leary Firefighters Foundation and Google Nest through a spokesperson commented that they believed Mendham Fire Department was deserving of the grant after learning in spite of the funding it receives from Mendham Borough, they fought a 10 to 20 percent expense increase, along with the interruption of in-person fundraising activities.

“Despite these challenges, the department remains eager to improve their training and technology,” the groups wrote in a joint news release. “This dedication to their community is more than deserving of 2021’s ’Thank You Grant’ and Google is thankful for the department’s unwavering commitment to their service area.”

With the largest junior training program in Morris County for students between the ages of 15 and 18, the department, they added, “will greatly benefit from this new technology grant.”

"We're thrilled and incredibly grateful to Google Nest and The Leary Firefighters Foundation for this grant, and we believe it will greatly enhance our ability to better serve the greater Mendham community," said Michael Orgera, Deputy Chief, Mendham Fire Department. "We've been talking for a while about how we can bring more training directly into our department, and leverage newer technology and products to better equip our volunteers."

"This grant enables us to not just upskill our own volunteers, but potentially other nearby departments as well," Orgera added. "Thank you to both organizations for their generous grant, and we're anxious to put this new technology to work for our community."

"For the past 116 years, the all-volunteer Mendham Fire Department has responded to every call and every alarm, diligently serving the residents of our and surrounding communities," said Mayor Christine Serrano Glassner.

"Thanks to this generous grant from Google Nest and The Leary Firefighters Foundation, the Mendham Fire Department will have the resources and technology to become a true Emergency Command Center, something we have hoped and envisioned for some time," Glassner continued. "We couldn't be prouder of the entire department and its members, and we're grateful for this much needed grant and recognition and are confident it will help positively transform how our MFD serves the Mendham community and beyond."

To date, Google Nest with The Leary Firefighters Foundation has given out over $250,000 since 2016 in technology to fire departments nationwide.

Watch the video below to learn more about how Leary started The Leary Firefighters Foundation to help departments receive funding for training and equipment:

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