‘Paint the Town Pink’: NCFD Launches T-Shirt Sale at the Firehouse in Support of Those Fighting Breast Cancer

As it does for so many, cancer touches Silvana Freeland personally.

A volunteer firefighter with New Canaan Fire Co. No. 1 for more than three years, Freeland lost her great aunt Lina “Lele” Aversa to breast cancer.

“Breast cancer in particular is a cause that hits close to home for me,” Freeland, a New Canaan resident who grew up in Stamford, told NewCanaanite.com. “It’s something that has always had a personal connection for me.”

So Freeland, who currently serves as vice president of the fire company, in 2023 launched a T-shirt fundraiser to bring awareness to the disease. 

Those seeking to support the cause should go to the firehouse on Main Street between 12 and 6 p.m.

“As a department, we wanted to find a way to give back and support people who are battling cancer, as well as the organizations that are there to help them, and the T-shirt fundraiser was something simple that we could do as a department to bring people together while raising money for a good cause,” she said.

The T-shirts are on sale for $25 apiece at the New Canaan firehouse on Main Street, and those interested in buying them should visit in-person between 12 and 6 p.m., Freeland said. All money collected goes to an annual effort that marks October as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

The annual effort raised more than $1,900 in its best year, and Freeland said the goal is to raise $2,500 this year “since we increased our inventory and expanded our order to include toddler sizes.” (Supplies are limited.)

A full-time nurse at Stamford Hospital, Freeland found an organization to benefit from the T-shirt sales during the first year of the fundraiser, and since then identified the hospital’s own “Paint the Town Pink” effort as a beneficiary. 

One of the T-shirts for sale at NCFD.

“I figured since it’s something that’s local and an organization that has helped a lot of people around the area, why not send all the proceeds to one of the organizations that is around this that is surrounding the town of New Canaan,” she said. “They help with giving rides to a lot of patients who are battling breast cancer. They help with supporting them for bills if needed, and there’s a ton of resources that they give patients who are going through this journey.”

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, breast cancer is the second most common cancer among women in the United States, behind some kinds of skin cancer. Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death among women in the United States, behind lung cancer, and for non-Hispanic Black women and Hispanic women, breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death.

There’s a mannequin set up at the firehouse for passersby to see the T-shirts for sale, and there’s typically a firefighter among the vehicles in the garage who can help, Freeland said.

Anyone with questions or seeking additional information can contact Silvana Freeland at sfreeland@newcanaanfire.com.