Firefighter Adam Towner, Barbara "Babs" Donahue and Fire Chief James Vuona with one of the department's new computers and iPads.

Photo Credit: Lindsay Corcoran

Firefighter Towner showing Donahue how the Fire Department will be using their new iPads.

Photo Credit: Lindsay Corcoran

SHREWSBURY, Mass. – The Donahue family has been giving back to Shrewsbury for decades, donating everything from the Donahue Rowing Center to the Fountains in Dean Park.

Barbara "Babs" Donahue has carried on the tradition her husband, Irving J. Donahue, started and always gives by his motto. "Jim" Donahue, who died in 2003, was chairman of Donahue Industries and a former selectman in Shrewsbury.

"It has to save a life or change a life," Donahue said, remember her husband's words. "So far, I think I'm batting 100."

Donahue's latest donation is a new computer program and iPads for the Shrewsbury Fire Department.

The program allows firefighters to work more efficiently and, with having the iPads in the field, they have a whole wealth of knowledge at their fingertips.

"This could not only save our lives, but also the people that we're trying to save," said Firefighter Adam Towner, who originally requested money for the new computer system from Donahue.

Each of the three fire stations in town will have an iPad that the firefighters can take with them on calls and inspections. The money also helped purchase computers for the ladder truck and the captains' car.

Towner explained that some buildings are more dangerous than others to go into when there's a fire, especially large industrial buildings that may have dangerous chemicals or dead ends where firefighters can get stuck.

"The chief can now pull up a blueprint on the computer right on the scene," Towner explained. "The difference may only be a minute or two, but that can make the difference when you're trying to save a life."

The efficiency of firefighters is also becoming increasingly important due to budget constraints that have meant an understaffed department, said Towner.

"Without the donated money, we wouldn't have been able to even consider doing this," said Fire Chief James Vuona.

Beyond having the information at the scene, Towner said having all of this information compiled in one place will help with planning and budgeting as well.

The computers are the latest in a series of donations to the Fire Department from the Donahue family which has included a gym and a hovercraft.

Donahue said she recognized that the Fire Department needed help and weren't able to get it anywhere else.

"I think these men need all the help they can get," Donahue said. "I hope it makes their work easier and more efficient. You never know what kind of life it is going to save."

Another credo of the Donahue's donation is that they like to see the money go where people can see it work.

"I'm even more excited now that I see what it will do," Donahue said after learning about the firefighter's new computer system.

When asked why she continues to give back so much to the town, Donahue thought back to one of the first donations she and her husband made with the fund: a heart pump at UMass Memorial Hospital.

"The doctor called me up and said 'your pump just saved its first life,'" Donahue recalled. "My husband and I sat at the kitchen table and cried. I get that same feeling every time I know these donations are saving a life."