Firehouse Subs Grants 2026: Dates, Amounts, How to Apply

Firehouse Subs grants open now: 5 routes checked November 12, 2026

Grantsights checked 5 routes on November 12, 2026, and only 1 of them is an application a department can file, and it's closed until January 14, 2027.

Recently closed: the Q1 2027 window. The portal posted an opening of Thursday, October 8, 2026, and its round record for that cycle shows a deadline of 5:00 p.m. ET the same day. Grantsights reads that as the 600-application cap filling within hours of opening. The Q4 2026 cycle is listed as being in its awarding stage.

The posted 2027 openings, all at 2 p.m. ET, are January 14, April 15 and July 15, 2027. The portal adds that dates are subject to change. Grantsights' read: this is one of the few national first-responder funders a small department can apply to directly, but the real deadline is the first afternoon of each window, not the end of the quarter.

Who can apply for Firehouse Subs grants: 3 rules and 1 guideline

The portal's pre-qualification list, checked November 12, 2026, has 3 rules, and the FAQ adds a 60-mile guideline.

1. Eligible types. "Public safety organizations, military/veteran organizations and non-profit organizations." In the 2025 return, 291 of the 378 grants went to government bodies such as cities, counties, townships and fire districts, and 87 went to nonprofits, including volunteer fire companies.
2. No third parties. The organization that will use the equipment has to apply itself. A city can file on behalf of its own fire department, which is why so many Schedule I entries read "City of X on behalf of X Fire Department."
3. One grant every four years. The portal says it raised the wait from 3 years to 4 years effective Q2 2027, counted from the funding date. A department funded in 2024 shouldn't plan on applying again until 2028.
4. The 60-mile guideline. The FAQ says the foundation mainly focuses on areas served by Firehouse Subs restaurants, treats a 60-mile radius as a guideline, and recognizes the needs of rural departments. It also encourages, but doesn't require, a heads-up to your local restaurant.

What the foundation funds. The Our Foundation page lists 5 funding areas: lifesaving equipment, prevention education, scholarships and continued education, disaster relief, and support for members of the military. Equipment examples include vehicle extrication tools, AEDs, bunker gear, thermal imaging cameras, automated chest compression systems, vehicle stabilization struts, bulletproof vests, all-terrain vehicles and fire hoses. Prevention examples include fire extinguisher training systems, DUI and distracted driving education, carbon monoxide education and CPR training.

What it won't fund. The portal's FAQ lists body cameras, building exhaust removal systems, dash cams, drones and drone accessories, exercise equipment, firearms and use-of-force equipment, riot gear, license plate readers, Narcan, police radar, power load stretchers, surveillance and security systems, tasers, traffic barriers, t-shirts and more. It also rules out reimbursements for gear you've already bought, refurbished or used equipment, patent-pending products, partial funding, and maintenance plans or extended warranties. At the time of the check it wasn't taking requests for the Scott SCBA Model AP50.

Who actually gets Firehouse Subs grants

Grantsights analysis of 378 grants on the foundation's 2025 Schedule I shows $8,866,607 in equipment and support to recipients in 43 states and Puerto Rico. The median grant was $22,475, the average about $23,460, and the largest was $44,951. Not one grant topped $50,000, which matches the portal's cap on requests.

About 83% of the grants, 313 of 378, landed between $10,000 and $40,000. The portal's "average award falls within the $25,000 to $35,000 range" line runs a little high against the return: only 157 grants reached $25,000. Plan a request around what one category of gear costs, not around a target number.

Fire departments take most of the money

Grantsights grouped the 378 recipients by name. Fire departments, districts and volunteer fire companies received 278 grants worth $7,014,335, about 79% of the total. Police and sheriff's departments received 55 grants worth $1,082,808. EMS, rescue and emergency management agencies (including 3 Puerto Rico municipalities) received 12 worth $321,451, and schools and school districts received 11 worth $203,840. Smaller slices went to other nonprofits for AEDs and safety training (11 grants, $109,057), disaster relief groups (7 grants, $60,798) and veteran charities (4 grants, $74,318).

Read by the equipment described, extrication tools (spreaders, cutters and rams) were the largest category at roughly 90 grants worth about $2.84 million. Bunker gear (about 46 grants, $1.21 million), AEDs (more than 50 grants, about $0.87 million), rescue boats and water rescue gear (about 23 grants) and thermal imaging cameras (about 22 grants) followed. The return's Part III reports the 2025 totals as 424 sets of bunker gear, 187 thermal imaging cameras, 476 AEDs, 21 rescue boats and 90 sets of extrication tools.

Named 2025 grants

For example, the City of Mt. Juliet, Tennessee received a rescue boat, motor, trailer and console worth $44,787 for its fire department. Marbury Volunteer Fire Department in Alabama received 11 sets of bunker gear worth $44,242. Bonifay Fire Rescue in Florida received seven LIFEPAK AEDs worth $22,406, and the City of Brea, California received five thermal imaging camera kits worth $17,549 for its fire department.

Small agencies show up too. One organization in Missouri, the Carterville Police Department, received five AEDs worth $8,090. Castle Shannon Volunteer Fire Department near Pittsburgh received three sets of bunker gear worth $16,693, and the Village of Fox Point Police Department in Wisconsin received four AEDs worth $7,215. Non-first-responder nonprofits can win AED grants: Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona received $18,490 in AEDs and Sumner County Schools in Tennessee received 22 AEDs worth $37,400.

Where the money went by state

Florida, home of the Jacksonville headquarters, led again, and the Southeast and Midwest dominate the list. That pattern fits the 60-mile restaurant guideline. The 10 states above took 210 of the 378 grants.

2024 for comparison

Per the foundation's 2024 Form 990, Schedule I listed 422 entries worth $9,784,688, with a median of $23,834 before any exclusions, and the return's program description says 490 public safety organizations were awarded grants that year. The 2025 return's description says 390. So the pot shrank by roughly $840,000 in a year, while the 600-application cap stayed in place. Only 5 recipients on the 2025 list, matched by EIN, also appear on the 2024 list, which fits the waiting-period rule.

How to apply for Firehouse Subs grants, step by step

The portal's public program page lists 5 required documents, and Grantsights turned its FAQ into 8 steps, checked November 12, 2026.

1. Confirm you fit. You're a U.S. public safety organization, military or veteran organization, or nonprofit, you haven't been funded in the past four years, and the item isn't on the excluded list.
2. Pick one category of equipment. The FAQ allows one vendor quote for related items in one category. A quote for a cutter, spreader and fire hoses, or for AEDs and gas monitors, gets the application marked incomplete.
3. Get a vendor quote that meets every rule. It must name the sales rep and the rep's email, show your organization's name and physical address and a contact person, itemize accessories, shipping and installation, be dated within three months of the deadline, contain only the requested items, and match the request total exactly. Online quotes aren't accepted. The FAQ suggests telling the vendor you're applying to the foundation.
4. Pull your financials. One of these: a balance sheet or profit and loss statement from the last month, a current-year budget, or last year's audit or Form 990. They must show revenue and expenses and your organization's name.
5. Write the background and, for first responders, the inventory. List apparatus, vehicles, extrication equipment, breathing devices and protective gear.
6. Have a current Form W-9 ready.
7. Create your portal account before opening day and add no-reply@wizehive.app to your safe senders, since the portal warns that verification codes often land in spam.
8. Submit at 2 p.m. ET on opening day. The portal accepts a maximum of 600 submitted applications per quarter. Drafts still open when the cap is hit are marked denied, as is anything submitted after it.

After that, don't email to ask about status. The FAQ says approvals and denials both go out by email before the next portal opening. Approved recipients must send documentation that the equipment arrived, and any vendor discount goes back to the foundation rather than buying extra gear.

Common mistake: asking for a round $30,000 because that's near the stated average. The FAQ says the vendor quote and the application total must match exactly, and the foundation doesn't do partial funding. Ask for exactly what one quote covers.

What Firehouse Subs' Grant Pages Don't Tell You

Grantsights checked the foundation's website and portal against its 2024 and 2025 returns, and 6 things stood out.

1. The window can close the day it opens. The 600-application cap, not the calendar, sets the deadline. The Q1 2027 cycle record shows a 5:00 p.m. ET deadline on its 2:00 p.m. opening day, October 8, 2026. A red flag for any department that plans to "get to it this quarter": by then it's too late. Have the quote, financials and W-9 finished a week before the opening date.

2. You get gear, not money. Every 2025 Schedule I entry is listed as non-cash assistance valued at cost. The foundation's procurement team may also check pricing with other distributors of the same brand. If you need cash for salaries, fuel or a building, this isn't the funder.

3. Grants are smaller than the headline average. The FAQ's $25,000 to $35,000 average sits above the return's $22,475 median, and 158 of the 378 grants were under $20,000. A department that needs a $60,000 extrication set or a full SCBA replacement will need a second funder.

4. The website's own numbers disagree. The home page credits 2025 with 424 sets of bunker gear, 187 thermal imaging cameras and 476 AEDs, which matches the 990. The Our Foundation page, checked the same day, says 393 sets of bunker gear, 276 thermal imaging cameras and 537 AEDs for 2025. The home page says 7,390 organizations have benefited; the 2025 return says 7,014 since inception. Use the return when you cite the foundation.

5. Some links still point to the old system. The Scholarship and Grant Awards by State pages link "Grants" to an older grants.firehousesubs.com site, and the Our Foundation page's "Grant FAQs" button goes there too. The home page's "Apply for a Grant" button goes to the current WizeHive portal. Apply only through the portal.

6. The restaurant-area rule is soft, but it shows. The FAQ calls the 60-mile radius a guideline, yet 2025 grants still cluster where the chain is thick: Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, Tennessee, Ohio and Illinois. Departments far from any restaurant can apply, but they shouldn't underestimate the odds.

Firehouse Subs versus federal first-responder grants

Federal programs can pay far more per award, but they run on yearly notices and federal application rules. According to FEMA's Assistance to Firefighters Grants page (opens in a new tab), last updated September 30, 2026, the FY2025 Assistance to Firefighters, SAFER and Fire Prevention and Safety programs are all closed. The U.S. Fire Administration's fire service grants and funding page (opens in a new tab) points to the same 3 AFG programs, also marked closed on November 12, 2026, plus a funding alternatives guide and federal surplus property routes. Grantsights' Assistance to Firefighters Grant guide explains the population-based cash cost share and how FEMA scores applications.

For police, the Patrick Leahy Bulletproof Vest Partnership (opens in a new tab) reimburses states, local governments and tribes for up to 50 percent of the cost of body armor for officers. According to the BVP program page, more than 13,000 jurisdictions have used the program since 1999, drawing $573 million in federal funds for more than 1.5 million vests, and its fiscal year 2026 application period ran until October 30, 2026. Bulletproof vests also appear in Firehouse's own equipment examples, so a department could pair a BVP reimbursement with a Firehouse request for other gear.

Is a Firehouse Subs grant worth it? A 5-question check

1. Do you need one category of equipment costing under $50,000? If yes, you're the target applicant, and this is your best bet among private first-responder funders.
2. Has it been at least four years since any Firehouse grant to your organization?
3. Can you produce a fresh vendor quote and one-month-old financials before January 14, 2027?
4. Is a Firehouse Subs restaurant within about 60 miles? Not required, but the 2025 map follows the restaurants.
5. Can someone submit at 2 p.m. ET on opening day?

Plausible fit: a volunteer fire company in Georgia asking $21,000 for four sets of bunker gear on a single quote, with an inventory showing gear past its service life. Poor fit: a city asking $75,000 for a drone program and body cameras, or a department asking to be reimbursed for tools it already bought.

Where to look if Firehouse Subs isn't a fit

Firehouse funded about 378 recipients in 2025 against a cap of 600 applications every quarter, so most applicants get a denial. Build a list of other routes now. The fire service guides start with grants for volunteer fire departments, and grants for EMS and ambulance services and grants for search and rescue teams cover the rescue side. Police agencies should read grants for police departments.

For AEDs, which Firehouse funds for schools, churches and nonprofits as well as first responders, see grants for AEDs and AED grants for churches. Schools weighing safety equipment more broadly can use grants for school safety. Veteran charities that fit Firehouse's military support area should also read grants for veterans organizations.

Other company funders: Walmart's Spark Good Local Grants are small, store-level grants that government entities as well as charities can request, so a fire department can ask its local Walmart for gear that's too small for a Firehouse request. For veteran housing groups, the Home Depot Foundation's veteran housing grants pay for construction that Firehouse's military program never touches. Corporate grants for nonprofits lists more company givers.

Finding a second funder near you: a volunteer fire company that loses the Firehouse race, or needs more than one quote's worth of gear, usually turns to local and family foundations. Grantsights' community funder lists sort those private foundations by state, using the grants on their 990-PF returns, and the list for your own state can be previewed free.

How Grantsights Checked This Guide

Grantsights checked 6 foundation pages, the portal's public program page, the foundation's awards list and 2 returns on November 12, 2026. ProPublica's records list the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation Inc in Jacksonville, Florida under EIN 20-3588745, and the 2025 return's header shows the same EIN.

The grant lists are public because the foundation files Form 990 as a public charity. According to IRS guidance on its Schedule I (Form 990) page (opens in a new tab), organizations that file Form 990 use Schedule I to report grants and other assistance to domestic organizations, governments and individuals. The Community Impact Map PDF (opens in a new tab) is the fastest way to see which departments near you were funded and for what.

Sources

• Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation: Home (opens in a new tab)
• Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation: Our Foundation (funding areas) (opens in a new tab)
• Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation grant portal (WizeHive), U.S. program page (opens in a new tab)
• Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation: Grant Awards by State (opens in a new tab)
• Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation: Community Impact Map, Q1 2020 to Q3 2026 (PDF) (opens in a new tab)
• Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation: Scholarship Program (opens in a new tab)
• Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation of Canada (opens in a new tab)
• ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer: Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation filings (opens in a new tab)
• FEMA: Assistance to Firefighters Grants (opens in a new tab)
• U.S. Fire Administration: Fire Service Grants and Funding (opens in a new tab)
• Office of Justice Programs: Patrick Leahy Bulletproof Vest Partnership (opens in a new tab)
• IRS: About Schedule I (Form 990) (opens in a new tab)