VIDEO: A fire helmet is a piece of equipment firefighters use every day. But the helmets can’t be used forever.
“These helmets, they have about a 10-year shelf life,” Shanen French, Founder of Lids For Kids, said. “At 10 years, regardless of if it’s new, used, or whatever, we have to figure out a way to repurpose it. In the past, we were just discarding them. We wanted to repurpose them, recycle them.”
Fire helmets are now recycled into the Lids For Kids program. The program gifts a personalized and autographed fire helmet, and a day as an honorary firefighter, to special individuals.
It began in 2014, and as of Wednesday, has now honored 50 kids who are living life with challenges. The Lids For Kids 50th recipient is Michael Southerland.
“I am happy to be a firefighter,” Michael said. “I’ve wanted to be a firefighter forever.”