Firefighters support cancer awareness with T-shirts

Whoever said pink is for girls hasn't met the Wauconda Fire Department.

In a move to show support for breast cancer awareness, Wauconda Fire Department staff are donning pink shirts at the firehouse this month.

Firefighter-paramedic Christopher Rohde came up with the idea after seeing banners that read "Real Men Wear Pink" while vacationing in Springfield, he said.

After returning to work, Rohde pitched the idea to his bosses and his co-workers, who all thought it was a great idea, he said.

Various forms of cancer have touched the fire department and their families over the years, so they wanted to do something to support cancer awareness.

"Once I asked the guys on my shift, it was incredible, they wanted 20 or 30 of them," he said of the T-shirts.

At first, they were just going to wear the shirts on Friday shifts and order one for every staff member. Because of the great response, they decided to wear them every day and have sold more than 200 shirts to firefighters, paramedics and their families.

And as far as the reaction from people when firefighters and paramedics show up to emergency calls donning pink shirts go, the reaction has been positive.

"We've been out on a number of calls and the response has been incredible," Rhode said.

The shirts aren't available to the public, but it's something they are considering doing next year, he said.

"We're very excited about it. I think we probably could have sold 1,000 shirts. We hope maybe it will spread next year," Rhode said.

All proceeds from the shirts go to charity.