Firefighters and their engines put on pink to support the fight against breast cancer

The Pink Shirts being sold to raise money to fight cancer will be available this Saturday October 23rd at the Breast Impressions Survivor Fashion Show at 2pm in the Dillards Courtyard at Woodland Hills Mall.  Survivor calendars will also be on sale.

Judi Grove, cancer survivor and founder of Breast Impressions welcomes the tour. She started Breast Impressions to provide free casting kits for people facing mastectomys. The idea is to make a cast of as a remembrance of the body before the invasive surgery. Grove shares this information about the Breast Cancer Awareness Month:

The Pink Heals Tour is on the move. Guardians of the Ribbon, dressed in pink turn out gear, are driving pink fire trucks across the nation on a journey to raise funds and awareness for women affected by cancer.
The Tulsa Fire Fighters Local 176 and Breast Impressions are teaming up with the Pink Heals Tour to show support and welcome five pink trucks to Tulsa Woodland Hills Mall on October 21st at 6:00 p.m. As the trucks make their way across the states, messages of gratitude, hope and love are written on the trucks at each stop.
At their Annual Convention on Feb. 12, 2010, The Professional Fire Fighters of Oklahoma adopted a special resolution to recognize, support, and encourage their members to participate in; "Cares Enough to Wear Pink" campaign in honor of our women who battle cancer. On October 25th, 26th, and 27th, all fire fighters will wear pink shirts to show their support for women battling cancer. Locals will create their own pink shirts to wear (on duty if approved by their department on the above dates), and sell each year in the month of October. Each local will donate at least 50% of funds raised to the Tulsa/Oklahoma Project Woman; the remaining funds will be used for our fire fighters and their dependants battling cancer or other cancer organizations including the "Fire Fighters Cancer Support Network".

The Pink Heals Tour was expected to make several stops across Oklahoma on their tour in 2011. But several months ago Judi Grove, Founder of Breast Impressions, and organizer of the campaign to bring them to Oklahoma received a call from Dave Graybill, founder of the Pink Heals Tour stating that this year's tour would bring them through Tulsa, and he wondered if she would like to meet them. She informed Dave, if they were coming through Tulsa, she would organize an event this year!

The excitement about this year's visit inspired the Tulsa Fire Department to do something locally to show their support as well. Jimmy Ober of TFD Local 176 contacted Meeks Lithographing Company and they were kind enough to donate the wrapping and have turned Engine 5 Pink! Tulsa's Truck will lead the procession as the Pink Heals Tour travels east from I-75 up 71st street to Woodland Hills Mall. And Engine 5 will remain pink as a support to women in our community for a year. In addition, the Tulsa Fire Fighters Local will be selling T-shirts and pink bracelets at Woodland Hills Mall on the Saturdays proceeding the Pink Heals Tour arrival.

Tulsa Fire Chief Alan LaCroix states, "The fire service has always been in the business of saving lives. As we move more into the delivery of Emergency Medical Service, prevention is just as important as treating a patient who is injured. Every firefighter has a mother, wife, or other loved one who could be affected with cancer. We cannot think of a better way to support the women of the Tulsa Fire Department and the women of our community."

The evening of celebration and remembrance at Woodland Hills Mall Southwest Parking lot will include special presentations to the Guardians of the Ribbon, music provided by the Homeland Howlers (made up of Tulsa Fire Fighters), information tables of many female cancer outreach programs in the Tulsa area, Huffy the clown, raffles, and T-Shirts for sale. Kristal Limousine will be on hand with the Pink Stretch Hummer Limo. Attendees can tour the inside of the trucks and survivors can write their personal message on the outside.

History of the Pink Heals Tour:
In 2008, Glendale, Ariz., Firefighter Dave Graybill found inspiration by a fellow station's firemen who donned pink shirts to honor the fight against breast cancer for women of Las Cruces. Graybill later had an epiphany - a pink fire truck. With no money to purchase a truck, he started out by driving around with a donated stainless steel pink ribbon on a trailer. Through a serendipitous encounter with a friend who learned of Dave's mission, his friend's wife wrote a check for $13,500 on the spot. Dave got his first truck on eBay sold by a firefighter in Jacksonville, Florida.
As Graybill's pink truck rolled down the freeway, a woman starting crying out for him to pull over. He did and she was the first person to write on the truck. Although the primary mission was to raise awareness for breast cancer, women along the way reached out to gain support for other forms of cancer, and kicked off the idea for "Pink Heals Tour".