Saturday, the men and women of Picayune and Poplarville fire departments donned pink attire while they raised money for women in Pearl River County who are battling breast cancer.

Picayune Fire Chief Keith Brown said about 15 members of his department, along with Sparky the firedog, wore their pink shirts during the morning’s boot drive.

During a boot drive, the firefighters hold out their fire boots for motorists to deposit money into, Brown said. They were stationed at the corner Highway 43 North and Highway 11 and at the corner of West Canal and Highway 11.

They raised about $4,000 and will donate the funds to the local non-profit group, Puttin on the Pink, Brown said. The Pearl River County based group provides funding for mammogram vouchers and gas cards to help offset costs for people struggling with breast cancer.

“One of our firefighter’s mother was affected and is now a survivor,” Brown said. “We felt like we wanted to do something to help. Our community is so giving and wonderful. Being able to further an organization that is doing good things also helps further our community.”

In Poplarville, firefighters wore pink tutus during their boot drive at the corner of Highway 26 and Main Street, Poplarville Fire Chief Jonathan Head said.

This is the second year the department has raised money for a local person battling breast cancer, he said.

Last year, the Poplarville firefighters raised more than $1,400 for Poplarville Lower Elementary principal Diane Herndon during the department’s first boot drive to give cancer the boot, former Poplarville Fire Chief Bobby Strahan said in a November 2014 story.

This year, the firefighters raised more than $2,000, Head said.

In order to determine a recipient, the department takes nominations and reviews each case to determine where the funds would do more good, Head said. If an individual is not found, the funds will be donated to the local group, Paint the Town Pink.

“We have folks in our city battling cancer and we want the money to stay locally to help them,” Head said. “Everyone knows or has known someone battling breast cancer. It’s something everyone can relate to and it’s important to be able to help our community and those going through the most difficult time of their lives.”