FAIRMONT, W.Va. (WBOY) — After its Flocking Flamingo fundraiser had come to an end, the Marion County Rescue Squad (MCRS) presented checks of funds raised to two local hospitals on Friday.

The MCRS has conducted its Flocking Flamingo Fundraiser for breast cancer over the last five years, gaining more community support every year.

“Flocking” someone is when an individual makes a donation towards the fundraiser and then gets to choose someone else’s yard they would like to place plastic pink flamingos in. Once that person has been flocked, a donation has to be made to remove the flamingos from their yard and into someone else’s.

This year, the MCRS raised $1,200 by flocking community members of Marion County. The MCRS then matched the funds raised and gave the total amount of $2,400 to WVU Medicine’s and Mon Health’s oncology departments.

12 News spoke with the MCRS’ assistant chief of operations, Ben Tacy, on why the squad felt compelled to give back in this way.

“In EMS, a lot of people think of us just as a response agency, which is ninety-nine percent of our work, but we also have missions that we want to go out and do preventative things, community outreach, that we’re there for the community as a proactive thing as well as a reactive measure. Being able to help people that we encounter in every aspect of health care is just part of the mission of EMS,” said Tacy.

Although the MCRS has no upcoming plans for fundraising for the remainder of the year, the squad still plans to get involved in cooperating charity events.