Story and photo by Ron Jeffers
Charmin representatives and “Dallas” TV star Josh Henderson assembled at the Moonachie (NJ) firehouse on March 17th to kick off Charmin’s “Butts That Save Our Butts” campaign. The ceremony included a donation from the company of $20,000 for the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.
Last January, a production crew filmed a TV commercial for the company at the firehouse and donated 10,000 rolls of toilet paper and accessories. Proctor & Gamble selected Moonachie to begin their 2014 campaign because the town and firehouse were hard hit by Hurricane Sandy.
On the morning of March 17, Josh Henderson presented Vina Drennan with a check for $20,000, for the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. Twenty years ago, Mrs. Drennan’s husband, Captain John Drennan of Fire Department of New York (FDNY) Ladder Co. 5, and two of his crew members, Firefighters Jimmy Young and Chris Siedenberg, were killed in the line of duty at a Manhattan fire. Mrs. Drennan, a retired school teacher, has since become very active in fire safety on a national basis.
The mission of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation is to provide resources to assist the survivors of America’s fallen heroes in rebuilding their lives.
In addition, Charmin donated $5,000 to the Dallas Firefighter’s Memorial/Dodd J. Miller Training Center in Dallas, Texas, in honor of Mr. Henderson’s grandfather who was a Dallas firefighter and gave his life in the line of duty.
Moonachie Chief of Department Justin Derevyanik and officers and members of the department welcomed the visitors and even cooked them breakfast before the ceremony got under way.
This year, Charmin will donate toilet paper to 100 firehouses across the country as part of the Charmin Relief Project. People were asked to help select 100 firehouses across the nation by nominating their local firehouse for the chance to receive a year’s supply of toilet tissue, as the firehouse is a home away from home for its members. Based on submissions, some of the firehouses receiving the donations this year include: Mitchellville (LA) Volunteer Fire Department, East Limestone Fire-Rescue of Athens, Alabama, and Dallas (TX) Fire-Rescue.
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