St. Albert firefighters will break out the beer, boots, and T-shirts this month to help battle breast cancer.
St. Albert Firefighters Local 2130 will kick off their fall breast cancer campaign this Oct. 5 with a boot drive at the south-side St. Albert Save-On Foods. The campaign coincides with October’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
St. Albert firefighter Greg O’Neil said he stepped up as co-chair of the local’s breast cancer campaign in 2010 after his mother Audrey was diagnosed with it. The strength she showed in her 13.5-year battle with cancer, which ended with her death in September 2023, keeps him motivated to spread awareness of the disease.
“If it’s caught early, with all the [medical] advances, it’s quite curable,” O’Neil said.
O’Neil said the local’s campaign really took off three years ago when firefighter Steph Fedoruk signed on as co-chair. Fedoruk had the local partner with Edmonton’s Sea Change Brewing Co. to create a special pink beer in support of the campaign. The beer has raised more than $10,000 for the campaign since 2022.
Fedoruk said last year’s campaign raised some $17,549 for the Canadian Cancer Society. This year, the local is gunning for $25,000.
To get there, the local has once again asked Sea Change Brewery to bring its Pink Sails beer to market, a portion of the sales of which will support the breast cancer campaign. Fedoruk said this tart, lemonade ale comes in pink cans emblazoned with the union’s logo and a sailboat. The brew is available in cans at Campbell Liquor, Lacombe Park Spirits, 7 Star Liquor, Sobeys Liquor Summit, and Team Liquor in St. Albert all October. It will also for the first time be available on tap at Browns Socialhouse, Original Joe’s, The Ridge, and the Thirsty Rooster.
Firefighters are also collecting donations through a boot drive. Fedoruk said volunteers will be at the south-side Save-On Foods on Oct. 5-6 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and at the north-side Save-On on Oct. 26-27 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. asking residents to help them fill their pink boots with donations. They will also have firetrucks and bunker gear to show to the kids and snazzy “Together We Fight” pink T-shirts to sell to parents.
Visit www.facebook.com/stalbertfirefighters for details on the fundraiser.
Prevention
Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women in Canada, the Canadian Cancer Society reports. About one in eight Canadian women will develop breast cancer during their lives and one in 36 will die from it. An estimated 30,500 women and 290 men in Canada will be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2024.
Allan McDonald, interim medical director for the St. Albert and Sturgeon Primary Care Network, said in an email that Alberta Health Services recommends any average-risk patient aged 45 and up get screened for breast cancer. This can take the form of a mammogram every two years (recommended for those aged 45-74), an MRI scan, an ultrasound, or a physical check for lumps. Anyone with a family history of breast cancer or symptoms of it (such as lumps or skin changes) should check with a doctor to get screened earlier.
Visit cancer.ca for more information on breast cancer, and screeningforlife.ca to learn about breast cancer exams.