John Nicholson
Special to the Et Cetera

Students in the fire and emergency services program are strapping on their boots to fight breast cancer.
“They’ve raised just under a thousand bucks, I’m guessing,” said Ian Sim, program manager for fire and emergency services. “They’re getting all kinds of response.”
The students have organized a boot drive, which is designed to help raise money and promote awareness. The fire and emergency services began the drive on Nov. 17. It finishes up tomorrow.
Students participating in the boot drive patrol the hallways wearing boots painted pink. They are trying to communicate to students about breast cancer awareness while at the same timeattempting to bring in donations for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.  
“They’re popular out there with the other students,” said Shanta Vogel, office assistant with the fire and emergency services department. “We do different fundraising throughout the year.”
The fire and emergency services students who participate in the boot drive are enthusiastic and eagerly approach other students in their fireman’s overalls.
“I always give the students some assignment for community involvement,” said Sim. “I just give them ideas. They pick it. They run it.”
 “Each student in the class is volunteering,”said Diane Harkins, 34, a student in the pre-service firefighter program. “We’re all taking turns. We’re volunteering our time to promote awareness.”
The Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation says an estimated 22,400 Canadian women will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year and one in nine women will develop breast cancer at some point within their lifetime.
 “Everybody’s putting in their time,” said Arthur Sawa, 26, another fire and emergency services student involved in the boot drive. “We’re trying to do our part, trying to raise some money.
“Any dollar helps, right?”