Josh Mitchell, a firefighter for the Picayune Fire Department, came up with the idea of wearing pink shirts to raise awareness for breast cancer. The disease personally affected Mitchell because his mother is a breast cancer survivor.

“I came up with the idea because I thought it would be good to honor her and honor the other survivors and try to raise some awareness and hopefully raise some money,” Mitchell said.

Picayune Fire Chief Keith Brown said that the Picayune Firefighter’s Association bought the shirts. Brown said he, in conjunction with City Hall, has approved the entire crew to wear the shirts through the month of October.

The shirts are bright pink with “Picayune Fire Department” on the back. Brown said they will go on calls wearing the shirts.

The fire department also holds a boot drive where they collect money in boots.

“This coming Saturday we’re gonna do a boot drive on the north end of town and also in the middle of town to collect money for the organization Puttin’ on the Pink,” Brown said.

Puttin’ on the Pink is an organization that gives free mammograms to local women who can’t afford them so the money stays in the county, Brown said.

He said the fire department just wanted to do something where they could help and show support for the organization.

The boot drive will be held on Saturday from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the intersection of Highway 11 N and Highway 43 N. They will also collect donations at the intersection of Canal Street and Highway 11.

The drive usually nets a few thousand dollars and Brown is expecting another large turnout.

“We have a very giving community. They always support us, they always have,” Brown said.