On Monday morning, Retired New York City Fire Department Battallion Chief Jack Oehm, a representative of the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation, an organization dedicated to the memory of a fallen 9/11 firefighter, made a special visit to the Sunflower Carpet One Store in Salina, to personally thank Store Managers Bernie Burghart and David Rutz for their generous support of the Foundation’s Building of America’s Bravest (BFAB) program.

The BFAB program builds hi-tech “smart homes” for service members returning from war who have been catastrophically injured, most of which are amputees.

Carpet One Floor & Home, and its manufacturing partner, Mohawk, have committed to providing flooring materials and installation for 46 of these “smart homes. Each store’s customers are invited to share information about the program with others, and make a personal contribution at the store site. The goal is to collect at donation of $10 or more from each customer, to ultimately enable the building of at least two more “smart homes.”

Oehm, whose battalion lost 20 men on 9/11, presented a shadowbox to Burghart and Rutz containing a piece of hallowed 9/11 steel from the World Trade Center in recognition of their support.

“We are truly humbled and honored that the Tunnel to Towers Foundation and members of the FDNY, who were actually at Ground Zero on 9/11 and during its aftermath, are travelling all the way from their home base to visit us and express their gratitude to us, ” said Carpet One representatives. “In fact, we are the ones who are thankful to them for their dedication and service. That is why we are so thrilled to be part of this impactful program that helps military heroes who have sustained the most devastating injuries.”