A newspaper story that detailed a shortage of items, such as paper towels and cleaning supplies, in Detroit (MI) firehouses has led to an outpouring of supplies from city residents, reports the Detroit Free Press.
The outpouring of generosity — including checks from people outside the city and an offer of free Charmin toilet paper from Procter & Gamble — has both surprised and embarrassed them.
Don Domin, a firefighter at Ladder 6 on East Lafayette, said concerned citizens made about a half-dozen supply deliveries to the station since Thanksgiving Day.
“We were really shocked that people brought basic supplies by the house,” said Domin, a 29-year department veteran. “It was a real shock, because a lot of these people in these neighborhoods don’t have a lot.”
Department officials blamed a reorganization of the purchasing system in July, although firefighters say supplies were already lacking in a department that’s seen staff cuts, equipment shortages and a steady stream of fires over the past couple of years.
Detroit Engine 58 firefighter James Plieth who talked about the shortage at his eastside firehouse last week, said he received a $100 check in the mail Monday — as did Detroit Fire Capt. Mark Kossarek — from a good Samaritan in White Lake Township. The Ladder 23 captain was photographed recently with a napkin he saved from lunch to reuse at dinner.
“I think it’s embarrassing — it really is — that it has to come to something like this,” Plieth said Tuesday. “It’s ridiculous that the city can’t handle their business, that it has to come to a charity drive for the fire department.”
Read more of the story here http://on.freep.com/117YFqu
