Get to know Lt. Felix Greco

Berwyn Fire Lt. Felix Greco was born and raised in the town where he fights fires for a living. In these days when living is hard for many, he and his fellow members of the local firefighters union are getting ready to answer a call of a different nature.

On Dec. 20, off-duty firefighters will be delivering food baskets to 30 families during the season where need is felt most. They’ve been doing this for about 30 years now. This year, they’ve partnered with Meijer in Cermak Plaza, which has donated turkeys and hams to put in the baskets that include all the fixings for a traditional Christmas dinner.

The families are selected through the Berwyn Public Health District, which then contacts the families most in need and makes arrangements for the deliveries.

“One of the philosophies of the Berwyn Firefighters Union is and always will be that we have to give back to the community,” said Greco, now a Bolingbrook resident. “These are the taxpayers that pay our salaries, pay the taxes. We need the residents to know that it’s humbling to work in a community where we grew up. We want the residents to know we value them.”

The payoff is the reaction from those families who will be celebrating Christmas with a holiday feast.

“It ranges from astonishment to tears,” Greco said. “We go to these homes on these delivery calls and sometimes we know the people. We know there are people struggling every day.”

Many of the families are single-parent households.

“There’s a lot of single-mom families. We understand we need to make special arrangements to deliver for them because of their work schedules,” Greco said.

All the baskets are delivered Dec. 20 with a one-hour window for delivery, Greco said.

He remembers one family in particular, who lost their homes to a fire just a few weeks before Christmas a couple years ago. They were staying with another family in Berwyn and were delivered a basket for the holiday.

“It was a tear-jerker for everybody involved,” he said.

Greco, who joined the department in January 1997, said the fire service was something that hit close to home for him, literally.

“I grew up from the main fire house on Euclid and 26th Street, and I used to see former Chief Ron Vinyard walk past the house every day when he went to work,” Greco said. “I’d hang around the firehouse.”

His biggest influence in making firefighting a career, however, it was Assistant Fire Chief Sam Molinaro who encouraged him to take the test when Greco was then in advertising sales for Suburban Life.
During this holiday season, Greco said residents should know they are first and foremost in the minds and hearts of those charged with keeping them safe.

“I’d like the people to know we care about the residents, every resident in town,” he said. “We are there for them. Always have been, always will be.”

About Lt. Felix Greco

JOB Works for the Berwyn Fire Department

RESIDENCE Bolingbrook

EDUCATION Pursuing a fire science degree at Moraine Valley College

FAMILY Wife, Sharon; four sons, Michael, Tony, Christopher, Brian

INTERESTS Golf, politics, reading, his three Boxers

NOTABLE Is a member of the Zoning Board of Appeals for Bolingbrook