BEREA, Ky. (LEX 18) — As we approach the end of the month, some organizations are making final pushes for No Shave November donations.
There's a bit of a friendly competition going on in Berea between firefighters and police officers. As always, their end goal is still to protect the community.
Both departments have various facial hair policies. This month, on the other hand, it's a bit lenient for a good reason.
"These have been challenging times over the last year," said Chief Eric Scott with the Berea Police Department. "If there's anything we can do as leadership over at our departments, it's to bring back fun to the workforce."
Scott came up with the idea. Proceeds will go right back into the community.
"We try to do the best we can to raise as much money," Scott said. "And we figured if we're going to do this, why not make it fun?"
The Berea Police Association and the firefighters each have their separate approaches to helping kids for the holiday.
"We coordinate with family resource networks for each school and they find us a list of names and we go that way," said Matt Kenney with the police department. "Each kid gets a set amount of money that we split 60/40 of wants and needs."
"We ask what the kid likes and we purchase that as a group, and then we give those to the parents to give to the kids, so our two organizations are different, but we're still going after the same kids," said Chief Shawn Sandlin with the Berea Fire Department.
Scott says the meaning behind the competition is two-fold, hoping to also strengthen another bond.
"We're really truly trying to foster the relationship between law enforcement, first responders, firemen in the community," Scott said.
If you are interested in reading more about their fundraising or would like to donate, you can click here to be directed to their donation page.
