Alpena City Fire and Police Depts. Wear Pink Patches for Breast Cancer Awareness Month

The Alpena City Police Department wanted to do something to raise awareness for breast cancer last year, so they turned the patches on their uniforms pink.

They got the Fire Department involved as well, and they are wearing pink t-shirts and pink wristbands throughout the month of October again in 2023.

“We’re both in the same building and we felt like it was a great cause,” said Linnessa Mellberg, a patrol officer with the Alpena City Police Department. “Everyone has been affected, either by a friend, family member, or even just general association, and we believe that this was a great idea to bring back and donate back to the community.”

The fire department was on board with the idea, considering how firefighters are around smoke and other factors that could make them susceptible to it.

“Obviously with the fire service, cancer is a big concern of ours, because we’re at higher risk for it, so any time we can bring attention to it, but like Linnessa said, any time we can bring attention and raise money for a good cause that stays locally, it benefits us as a department and it benefits the community as a whole,” said Alpena City Fire Chief Rob Edmonds.

The more often a community can come together on tackling an issue, the quicker it can be solved.

“We’re service–based organizations, so our job is to help people anyway, so this just really is a natural fit for us to be able to raise money for a good cause that goes back into the community, and helps those that are going through the struggles of being diagnosed with a cancer of any type,” said Edmonds.

The police and fire departments are selling their pink wristbands, and they will be set up at the Zonta Walk on Saturday.