Entrepreneur Gifts Money to Staff Haverhill, MA, Pumper with Fourth Firefighter

HAVERHILL — A local entrepreneur’s $80,000 donation will help bolster staffing at the city’s Water Street Fire Station.

While the gift will temporarily cover some costs for a firefighter, the department’s budgetary issues burn on.

The Haverhill City Council accepted the $80,000 gift from Joseph P. Faro and Tuscan Development, earmarked exclusively for the Haverhill Fire Department to maintain the fourth firefighter on Engine 3 at the Water Street Station.

“Supporting our local heroes is an honor. The Fire Department puts their lives on the line for our community every day, and this donation is just a small token of our appreciation,” Faro said.

Faro outlined the purpose of his five-figure gift in a letter sent to Fire Chief Robert O’Brien on July 15.

“On behalf of Tuscan Development, I am pleased to donate $80,000 to support the Haverhill Fire Department and the residents of Haverhill. In a previous conversation, we identified staffing as an immediate need. We take the safety of our firefighters seriously,” Faro wrote.

“We hope these donations support the Fire Department’s ongoing mission to serve the people of Haverhill and convey our sincere thanks and admiration for the work you and your personnel do each day.”

Faro, founder of Tuscan Development, is known for his regional culinary empire built on mixed-use developments. His business career began in Haverhill with Joseph’s Gourmet Pasta & Sauce Co., a startup later acquired by Nestlé in 2006.

Tuscan Brands, his venture, has grown to include numerous Italian-themed restaurants and markets, including the flagship Tuscan Village in Salem, New Hampshire. Faro shepherded the development and opening of the Casino Salem at The Mall at Rockingham Park and, a week after opening earlier this summer, Faro and co-owner Sal Lupoli sold a majority stake in the operation to Churchill Downs Inc., of Louisville, Kentucky.

Deanna Gaiero, Faro’s sister and owner of Joseph’s Trattoria in Haverhill, was on hand at the City Council meeting Tuesday to represent her family and express its support for Haverhill firefighters.

“The $80,000 goes a long way in terms of maintaining this particular money’s earmark,” said O’Brien. “It will help. It will not cover the year as we know, but it definitely helps offset the costs associated with that.”

Staffing concerns are not new issues for the department, as O’Brien said it’s faced a multi-year “struggle” with funding to maintain adequate staffing.

In 2023, the department’s union, Haverhill Firefighters Local 1011, expressed its staffing and funding concerns to the City Council’s Public Safety Subcommittee. The union’s former president, Timothy Carroll, presented a list of requests to council members, which included adding a fourth firefighter to Engine 3, a second ladder truck based out of the Bradford Fire Station, the creation of an assistant fire chief position and the construction of a new station.

The union’s requests have either been implemented or are in development – something the chief credits for an improving relationship between the firefighters and the city, particularly with council members and Mayor Melinda Barrett.

“It will be critical going forward to make sure we have the appropriate manpower for that truck,” said Barrett regarding the donation.

The donation comes shortly after the union and city agreed to a new contract in June, which included a department-wide pay raise of more than 14% over four years.

Council has also approved a $14.8 million budget for the fire department for fiscal year 2026, which is a 4.5% increase over last year. While the appropriation falls $250,000 short of the department’s request, it includes $100,000 reserved for the newly created assistant fire chief’s position.

Faro’s contribution could be met with a matching donation, O’Brien added. He said Lupoli, founder of Lupoli Companies, offered to match the $80,000 gift when Faro first proposed it. Those funds would also go to the same earmark – Engine 3 staffing.