Firefighters are three times more likely to die from prostate and testicular cancers than other professionals.
And because of the trauma they deal with daily, they’re also three times more at risk to have mental health challenges.
Those are the statistics on the minds of Port Coquitlam firefighters as they launched their annual Movember campaign today (Friday).
The November movement that aims to build awareness and raise money for men’s medical research is a big push for the department, which last year reached the top five among Canadian fire crews involved in the drive.
In total, PoCo smoke-eaters brought in nearly $13,000 in 2018 in donations as well as through their month-end hockey tournament.
For this year’s campaign, co-chairs Will Brodie and Joel Hamilton kicked off the cause this morning with a group shave at the Gentlemen’s House of Grooming, where barber and owner Darcy Cameron volunteered his time and talents.
(Cameron will also have a firefighter’s boot at his business in which to collection donations.)
Brodie told The Tri-City News the team, which is supported by the newly created Port Coquitlam Firefighters Charitable Society, hopes to raise at least $10,000 from online donations (movember.com, search under Port Coquitlam Fire Department) and through its Nov. 29 tourney at Planet Ice in Coquitlam, where up to 200 off-duty firefighters from around the Lower Mainland will compete in 40-minute games between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.
The tournament is open to the public.
“What we want to do it to get rid of the stigma attached to these illnesses and build the kinds of social connections needed to support each other,” Brodie said. “Of course, the hockey is a great way to exercise the body and mind, too.”
