'Appreciated'

Locals provide monthly lunch to firefighters 4 years straight

Simpsonville, S.C. — Judy Smith isn't exactly sure why she pulled into Simpsonville Fire Station 3 in August 2017—nonetheless, she did.

A few firefighters were at the back of the station on Highway 14; she pulled in and parker her car. 

"I got out and started talking to one of the guys and said, 'Does anyone every bring you anything to eat?'" Smith recounted in the station kitchen in May. "He said, 'No mam, not really. Occasionally there may be something.'"

Smith and the firefighter kept talking.

"He said, 'Are you trying to ask me if you can feed a fireman?'" Smith continued telling the story. "I said, 'I guess that's what I'm doing.'"

"We would never tell you 'no,'" the fireman replied.

Ever since that conversation at Fire Station 3 nearly four years ago, Smith, her sister Charlotte Ingram and family friend Deb Failor have made and delivered a meal to the firefighters every single month.

"We haven't missed a month," Smith said in May after she had dropped off pineapple pork chops, saffron rice, green beans, slaw and chocolate cake.

Area resident Judy Smith dropped off a meal to Simpsonville Fire Station 3 off Highway 14 in May. Firefighters Stewart Shepherd, Gage Venable and Craig Williams expressed their appreciation to Smith, her sister Charlotte Ingram and family friend Deb Failor for bringing a monthly meal to the station for nearly four years straight | City of Simpsonville

Ingram and Failor started helping Smith prepare the meals as a way to pay it forward when an EMS team responded to Failor's fall from a ladder, causing a dislocated shoulder. While Failor was making arrangements to pay the EMS bill, she learned that the bill had been written off.

"'We've got to figure out some way to pay it forward,'" Failor recalled on Thursday telling Ingram and Smith at the time. "We decided to pick some sort of first responders, and Judy had come up with the Simpsonville Fire Department, and we've been doing it ever since."

Failor also gave Fire Station 3 a custom-made birdhouse that she built to look like the fire station.

Deb Failor constructed a birdhouse for Simpsonville firefighters to resemble Fire Station 3 on Highway 14 | City of Simpsonville

The ladies typically deliver food on a Tuesday or Thursday and try to prepare a different meal each month.

"None of us have a culinary degree, but we just do southern cooking," Smith said.

Sometimes they'll try out new recipes.

"The pork chops are something new, so if you don't like them, tell me," Smith told the firemen in May with a laugh. 

The firefighters laughed, too.

On Thursday, the ladies dropped off baked spaghetti, antipasto salad and strawberry cake.

Ingram said providing the food to Fire Station 3 is "very rewarding."

"We've met some wonderful men here, and they're all just so grateful, and we just enjoy taking care of them," Ingram added.

Charlotte Ingram helped her sister Judy Smith and friend Deb Failor drop off a meal of baked spaghetti at Fire Station 3 on Highway 14 on Thursday | City of Simpsonville

Firefighter Craig Williams said in May that the monthly meal delivery by the three ladies shows that the firefighters are appreciated.

"There are a lot of times where you feel like you're kind of going through the motions," Williams said. "It helps to have people show that they care. It means a lot to us."

Smith was worried last year that they would not be able to deliver any more meals due to the pandemic. Missing even one month was not an option.

"We felt then like they needed it even more because trying to go in and out of places was so hard for them to get things to eat," Smith explained. "I know they cook, but sometimes they get tired of that. We were really gratified that they put us on a shortlist and said we could come in."

A meal generally runs the ladies about $50, which they split among themselves. They delegate who prepares which course and try to make a generous amount for whoever is hungry.

Smith said the monthly meal drop-offs provide a sense of satisfaction.

"These guys are here all day long waiting for whatever to happen, and when they jump on this truck and take off ... they don’t know if they're coming back, and I guess that’s what drives it for me," Smith explained. "At least we're giving something to the firemen that might make them smile or feel like they’re needed, and we appreciate the fact that they’re here."

Lt. Bradley Gruwell and firefighter Samuel Mauney stand with Charlotte Ingram, Deb Failor and Judy Smith behind a lunch spread prepared by the three ladies on Thursday at Fire Station 3 on Highway 14 | City of Simpsonville