Less than two weeks into fundraising, the Sebastopol Police Department (SPD) met its goal of gathering $2,500 for the North Bay Cancer Alliance (NBCA) — as a result, Sebastopol Police Chief Kevin Kilgore dyed his hair pink.
The department began its fundraising drive on Oct. 1 to support the nonprofit during Breast Cancer Awareness Month and have raised close to $2,600 so far as the fundraiser continues until the end of the month, said Sebastopol Police Chief Kevin Kilgore.
“It’s been a lot of fun. I have never, ever colored my hair in my life and it’s been a fun experience,” he said. Kilgore’s hair will be some shade of pink for the rest of October to celebrate the donations and raise awareness about breast cancer.
According to a newsletter put out by the City of Sebastopol, people can still take their donations to the donation box at the police station’s front counter or donate through SPD’s venmo with the confirmation code 0514.
“My family has been affected by breast cancer and it has touched the lives of many people who I know and others within our department and others within our community,” he said. “And it was just a good way to bring awareness to a good cause and also to help us as we continue to make our relationship stronger with our community.”
NBCA aids cancer patients “at every hospital and oncology center in Sonoma, Marin, Napa, Lake and Mendocino counties,” according to its website, offering financial assistance to patients in need and programs and tools to “social workers, patient navigators, nurses and oncology teams.”
Kilgore said, “The reason that we picked the North Bay Cancer Alliance is they’re local, they’re not too far away from us in Santa Rosa and they serve the entire North Bay, and that’s where we wanted those funds to go to, to serve the community we serve.”
SPD reached its original goal the morning of Tuesday, Oct. 12 “and I had my hair dyed the evening of Tuesday, Oct. 12,” he said. This kind of engagement and awareness-building may be the start of a new tradition under the police chief, who said personnel came up with the idea to dye his hair.
Kilgore said SPD will participate in No-Shave November, supporting men’s health and awareness around prostate cancer. “So, our officers are allowed to have beards and mustaches and goatees for the month of November, as long as they’re not too scraggly, in our efforts to make folks aware for that.”
Back in June, staff wore rainbow-colored patches for Pride Month, he said. The department hasn’t settled on what months they’ll plan activities like this for, but Kilgore said staff plans to participate more to connect with the community and “do something for a good cause.”
