Jefferson County Turns Pink in October

July 21, 2010 – Mount Vernon, IL Local 738 has launched its “Turn Jefferson County Pink for a Day” campaign. Local 738 fire fighters will be selling pink T-shirts until October 22, and all local members plan to wear them for the entire month of October in place of their regular duty shirts. All Jefferson County residents who purchase one of the shirts are encouraged to wear the shirt on October 22.

“Most of us know someone who has been affected by cancer,” says Local 738 Secretary Doug Boczek. “After seeing an article in the International Fire Fighter magazine about what many other locals are doing to raise awareness and money for this important cause, we decided we wanted to do something in our own community.”

Fire fighters took their idea to fire department management and the City administration. Both were very supportive. In fact, Mayor Jane Chesley was one of the first to buy a shirt.

“This campaign is already a huge success,” says Boczek. “For our first run of shirts, we ordered 1,000 shirts. We have almost sold out of those and are preparing to order another 1,000.”

All proceeds will be split between the American Cancer Society’s “Making Strides Against Breast Cancer” program and the local American Cancer Society.

Click here for updates on the T-shirt campaign.