GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – Green Bay police officers traded in their shiny gold badges for pink ones Tuesday to support October Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
The idea of the colorful badges was brought to Chief Andrew Smith by Lt. Steve Mahoney, whose life was recently touched by the disease.
Mahoney’s wife Jen was diagnosed 2 years ago with tubular carcinoma and is now cancer free. But the experience left him wanting to do more for awareness.
“If a lady out there in the community either at a Packers game, when I’m working night shift-day shift, sees a pink badge; if that convinces them to go get a mammogram…like I said, it saved Jen’s life.”
A total of 120 badges were purchased by officers with 25 dollars from every badge being donated to the local charity Ribbon of Hope.
Meg Steinhardt is one of the founders of the non-profit organization and says she’s honored the department chose them to benefit from the donations.
“They are involved in so many things and so many causes are at their fingertips that they know about, you know, a kid that’s hungry, a family that’s struggling and yet they chose Ribbon of Hope because of one of their own. I’m truthfully very touched by this.”
The group was presented with a check totaling $3,000 during Tuesday’s presentation.
Officers will start wearing the colorful badges starting October 1st.
