When the pink truck visits someone battling cancer, Baty said they flash their lights and sound the siren as they drive down the road. “It brings out the neighbors and adds to the sense that the person we are visiting matters,” Baty said.A pink fire truck is enough to grab anyone’s attention, but when Pink Heals Chattanooga President Robert Baty steps out of it in a pink uniform, people really take notice.
After his co-worker’s wife lost her battle with cancer, Baty started looking for a way to help others whose lives were impacted by serious illness. Once he saw a pink fire truck drive past him, he said he knew what he wanted to do.
“I’m the sort of guy who thinks either go big or go home,” he said. “So I immediately emailed the guy who started it all and said ‘How can I start a chapter in Chattanooga?'”
The idea behind the nonprofit is simple: To sell items out of a pink fire truck to raise awareness and funds for those struggling due to illness.
“Say a family needs to go to St. Jude’s for their child, for example,” Baty said. “St. Jude’s helps you the second you reach their door, but what if that family can’t get there?”
Volunteers for Pink Heals also bring the trucks to cancer patients through home visits with flowers and other items in tow to cheer them up.
“We want to remind them that their struggle matters,” Baty said. “The first thing I say when I hand someone flowers as I step out is, ‘My name is Robert Baty and I’m here for you. We’re all here because we love you.’ That’s powerful.”
When showing the pink truck at events, Baty emphasizes to onlookers that all money raised by Pink Heals goes straight back to the community that gives it. He does not take a salary, and neither does anyone else.
“We want everyone to know that all the money we raise stays local and everyone volunteers,” he said. “We don’t have assets and six-figure salaries. We want to stay a charity, not become a business.”
Since the Chattanooga Chapter began in July, Baty said he has attended more than 30 events with his brightly colored truck.
“They said finding the vehicle would be the hardest part,” he said. “But three days later I’d found one and bought it.”
The local truck is named Kennedy, in honor of Marion County High School student Kennedy Griffith who died in 2012 after several years of treatments for osteosarcoma, a malignant bone tumor.
“She was known in her town as a warrior, and we believe it’s a fitting name for our truck,” he said. “I had the pleasure of meeting Kennedy several times before she passed away.”
Patricia Cooper, co-owner of The Salon on 58, is bringing the pink truck to her fifth annual Locks of Love Cut-a-thon Saturday, Nov. 1.
That day, the salon will have free pizza, popcorn and other refreshments for those who attend. Raffles and door prize announcements will also be a part of the day to raise awareness for Locks of Love.
“We do free haircuts for Locks of Love year-round, but this is about raising awareness so people know that,” Cooper said. “All we need is 10 inches of hair. Just 10 – and it makes such a huge difference in peoples lives.”
The salon will be open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. the day of the event. The Pink Heals truck will be on-site until 1 p.m.
To find out how to volunteer for Pink Heals, email robert@pinkhealschatt.org.