By LESLIE COLLINS
Northeast News
October 2, 2013

Splashes of neon pink filled the City Hall of Kansas City chambers Sept. 26 as firefighters, City Council members and cancer survivors donned breast cancer awareness shirts.

“This impacts everyone of us,” said City Council member Scott Taylor, whose wife, Cathy Jolly, was diagnosed with breast cancer several years ago. “Whether you’re a victim of it, it’s a family member – we have some city employee family members and survivors up here with us. It’s personal to everybody.”

According to the American Cancer Society, one out of eight women will develop breast cancer, which is the second leading cause of cancer death in women.

City Council members have declared the month of October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month in Kansas City and the Kansas City Fire Department (KCFD) announced its firefighters would be donning the neon pink breast cancer awareness T-shirts during the entire month. Designed by KCFD firefighters, the shirts sport the message “Fight like a girl” and are on sale for $20 each. All of the proceeds will be donated to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. To purchase a T-shirt, email Local 42 International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) Business Agent Adam James at ajames@iaff42.org. or call 816.358.422 ext. 29.

“‘Fight like a girl’ has a special meaning to us,” said Mike Cambiano, president of the Local 42 chapter of IAFF.

When the ambulance service merged with the fire department, KCFD gained an influx of women, he said.

“We realized our female firefighters, our female paramedics, our female EMTs are some of the smartest, hardest working, toughest people you’re going to meet,” Cambiano said. “They know how to fight and they don’t quit until it’s done.

“We want you to fight like a girl and don’t give up.”

In addition to the KCFD fundraising efforts, the city of Kansas City will host its 7th Annual Breast Cancer Benefit for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation Oct. 24 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Westin. Over the past six years, the event has raised more than $250,000 for breast cancer research.