Jason Whiteley says his nine-year-old daughter won't be happy to see his newly painted pink nails.
"She quite often tries to paint my nails and I do not let her unless I fall asleep but knowing that I have let somebody paint my nails, she is going to be quite upset," said Whiteley, North Bay's fire chief, who had his nails painted by Scott Tod, North Bay's police chief.
"We are going to come out stronger next year but at the end of the day nobody loses because we have raised some great funds for a very well-needed cause."
Tod, with a grin, says he is missing out.
"I feel left out," said Tod.
"It is the first time in three years I have not had to have my nails painted pink and I feel like I am missing being part of the team but I will take the celebration and the good spirit and understanding that the money is going for a good cause in the community and I am glad to be part of that with all our emergency services partners."
See related: Run for the Cure competition heats up as in-person run returns
The event was a competition stemming from the CIBC Run for the Cure, where the winning emergency services fundraising team gets to look on as the other police officers, firefighters and paramedics got their nails painted pink.
"It is a fantastic challenge that our emergency services have hosted for us once again," said Melanie Gainforth, the Run for the Cure volunteer director for the event.
"Their donations to the cause are tremendous and we are very very pleased that they have expanded and included the MTO and the Anishinabek Police. The OPP have come on board, they had a team once before. It is great to see the support and $7,000 is a fantastic result."
The North Bay Police Service had some incentive to its fundraising initiative this year that raised more than $3400 as the Chief of Police’s Executive Assistant, Darlene Stone Aro, was diagnosed with breast cancer during the fundraising campaign.
Tod says the fundraising really hit close to home.
"It has and we talk about personal stories involving families but when it involves people in our workplace this year and someone so recent it really struck home to many of our members here about how important causes like this are for our community but also supporting each other at work," said Tod.
The fundraising totals for each service are:
- North Bay Police Service: $3,416.00
- North Bay Fire and Emergency Services: $1,494.58
- Anishinabek Police Service – Nipissing Detachment: $1,143.00
- Ministry of Transportation’s Transportation Safety Division: $433.00
- Nipissing District Paramedics: $428.50
- Ontario Provincial Police – North East Region: $338.35
The combined total raised by all services is $7,253.43.
The yearly fundraising challenge originally pit the North Bay Police Service and North Bay Fire and Emergency Services against each other to raise funds for CIBC’s Run for the Cure. To raise the stakes and help bring in more money for a good cause, the services agreed that the leadership of the services that did not raise the most funds would have their nails painted pink.
The competition has grown over the years with the Nipissing District Paramedic Services joining the challenge in 2021. That year the Paramedic Services won the competition by raising $2,000 for breast cancer awareness and research.
In 2021 the three emergency services collectively raised more than $4,600 for CIBC’s Run for the Cure.
