The thin blue line turned pink this afternoon as North Bay Police Chief Scott Tod and Deputy Fire Chief Greg Saunders made good on a friendly bet by getting their nails painted pink.
It's all part of a fundraiser for CIBC’s Run for the Cure.
The North Bay Police Service, North Bay Fire and Emergency Services, and Nipissing District Paramedic Services held a competition to raise funds for the initiative. To raise the stakes and help bring in more money, the services agreed that the teams that did not raise the most funds would have their nails painted pink.
Doing some of the nail painting was Stephen Kirk, whose Nipissing District Paramedic Services team finished on top, raising $2,000.
"In my short career as chief of EMS, this is definitely one of the highlights of my career," Kirk beamed speaking with reporters after the event. "With the expansion of our Community Paramedic Program it's given us an opportunity to become more involved within the community. We're happy to participate in events like this."
North Bay Police finished second with $1,650, putting the heat on the fire department which finished third with $994 raised.
The three combined services raised $4,644 for the Run for the Cure.
Tod praised the efforts of his officers.
"It's in addition to their day job and they really commit a lot of time and effort to help people in our community, many whom they'll never meet nor know."
Tod hopes to increase that total next year.
"Breast cancer is a terrible disease. While the police service did not win this year's competition we did raise 16 hundred dollars. That means we more than doubled our fundraising efforts from last year. All this money is going to a great cause."
In total, this year, North Bay CIBC Run for the Cure raised approximately $35,000 for breast cancer.
