By Ben Rodgers
Editor

SUAMICO – Those looking for a good cause to go along with their meal have a new option in the Urban Edge Towne Centre.

Firehouse Subs, at 2304 Lineville Road, has been open for about a month and offers subs with a side of charity.

According to Seth Sheikh, who co-owns the Ashwaubenon and Suamico location with his mother Sheila Brenwall, the company’s founders (former firefighters) discovered a need while feeding volunteers and victims in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

“What they saw was every department was in need of something,” Sheikh said.

The Firehouse Subs’ Public Safety Foundation was created and since 2005 has granted more than $31 million to hometown heroes in 46 states, including Puerto Rico and Canada.

In Wisconsin, $386,000 has been donated with some donations originating from the Ashwaubenon location.

After completing an application, the Ashwaubenon Public Safety Department received two thermal imaging cameras, NWTC received a bite-suit for canine training and the Wayside Volunteer Fire Department purchased new equipment.

“That’s our goal to help as many first responders as we can, especially in our community,” Sheikh said.

The application process is online and open to any first responder unit as well as the military.

Customers at Firehouse Subs have three ways of making donations at every visit.

The first is the ability to purchase 5-gallon pickle buckets for $2. The second is to roundup their purchase to the nearest dollar and the third is that .13 percent of all purchases go to the fund.

Aside from helping out first responders, customers also get a unique sandwich experience at Firehouse Subs.

“We do a steaming process that steams the meat and cheese to make them hot,” Sheikh said. “It melts everything together and gives it a better flavor than just a toaster.”

All subs are made with premium meats and every bun is toasted.

Sheikh said the nationwide best seller is the Hook & Ladder, which includes Virginia honey ham, smoked turkey breast and monterey jack cheese. It can be ordered “fully involved,” which means including mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, onion, deli mustard and a kosher dill pickle on the side.

Sheikh said so far Howard-Suamico has seen a constant stream of people who enjoy the food.

“This was an area that we thought would be a good up-and-coming area,” he said. “We had thoughts of opening in this area for about a year now and we’ve seen how much it’s grown and just thought it would be a great area to open a location in.”

Firehouse Subs is open seven days a week from 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. In the summertime the location will feature outdoor patio seating with umbrellas for people to enjoy their food outside.

The restaurant also features a hand-painted mural by Joe Puskas, which depicts fire engines from the Suamico Fire Department and the Howard Fire Department.