Matthews International Corporation Supports the Grieving Firefighters' Families and the Charleston Community

PITTSBURGH and CHARLESTON, S.C., July 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Matthews International Corporation donated a cast bronze plaque of the Firefighters Prayer to the City of Charleston to honor the nine firefighters who lost their lives in rescue efforts while fighting a June 18th warehouse fire.

The 24" X 36" bronze plaque includes the inspiring Firefighter's Prayer situated between a sculpted image of firefighter kneeling in anguish and the firefighter's insignia of "valor, honor, dedication and service." The plaque was made from the same pattern as the cast bronze plaque Matthews donated to the City of New York in remembrance of the firefighters who gave their lives in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

"The employees of Matthews are honored in the hope that we can help bring some comfort to the firefighters' families and residents of Charleston who are grieving the loss of these courageous firefighters," said John Parham, Matthews' regional manager for memorial customers in North Carolina and South Carolina, as he presented the plaque to Charleston Mayor Joseph Riley, Jr. today at the City of Charleston's Central Station that houses Engine Companies 2 and 3.

"We hope that this tribute to the firefighters' devotion to the community serves as a permanent memorial to honor the fallen firefighters as well as a place for those grieving to find solace," Parham added.

Matthews also presented poignant firefighter statues to the families of the fallen Charleston firefighters. The eight-inch bronze statues are replicas of the firefighter image on the bronze plaque.

Immediately following the firefighters' deaths, the York-Milso Casket Division of Matthews International donated nine 18-gauge silver steel caskets to the families of the fallen firefighters through McAlister-Smith Funeral Homes and Palmetto Cremation Society of Charleston, SC.

Matthews International Corporation, headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA, is a designer, manufacturer and marketer principally of memorialization products and brand solutions.

SOURCE Matthews International Corporation

Released July 19, 2007