Fernie’s firefighters heat things up this fall with the widely anticipated release of the 2021 Fernie Firefighter Calendar.
“Calendars are a time honoured tradition in the fire service, and fire departments have been successfully raising money through calendar sales for decades,” said Fernie firefighter Cory Robinson.
“We thought we could adopt this model and provide a body positive spin on the traditional firefighter calendar.”
Last year, the initiative raised $5,000 for the Fernie Women’s Resource Centre. Hoping to match that level of success, a portion of this year’s proceeds will go towards Muscular Dystrophy Canada, who was selected as a fundraising recipient due to a 60 percent decrease in revenues since March.
According to Robinson, in response to an increase in local food bank usage since March, the initiative is also donating to the Fernie Salvation Army Food Bank.
Providing a safe way to further fundraise during the pandemic, a portion of proceeds will also be allocated to the East Kootenay Foundation for Health’s Beneath the Surface campaign to bring an ultrasound service to the Elk Valley Hospital.
Giving local fridges and living room walls something to look forward to, the Fernie Fire Department partnered with Decoro, a local photography company specializing in boudoir and body positive content.
“It has been a great way to promote health and fitness within our department, which is a very important part of our jobs,” added Robinson.
According to co-owner of Decoro, Leah Wilkie, this initiative helps normalize and celebrate bodies, no matter what they look like.
“Part of it is realizing that everyone has a body, and we don’t have to be anxious about or ashamed of our bodies,” said Wilkie.
“These guys use their bodies for really noble purposes - they’re protecting our community - so I think it’s an interesting intersection between the utility and beauty of a person’s body.”
Helping sponsor this year’s calendar in light of promoting physical fitness is Fernie’s Body Garage Fitness.
The calendars are currently on sale for pre order at the Decoro website and Facebook Page.