Westtown-East Goshen Regional Police officers are wearing pink badges throughout October for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The department is also participating in Blue Beards for Charity, a countywide police initiative that raised more than $60,000 last year.

WEGO announced on Tuesday, Sept. 29, that cancer has touched many in the department and its extended family. Officers began wearing the pink badges on Oct. 1.

Through the same initiative, officers make a charitable donation and are permitted to grow facial hair. WEGO's announcement lists the campaign running from Oct. 1 through Dec. 31. The West Goshen Police Department, which posted separately about the program on Instagram, described the beard-growing period as October and November, with donations distributed at a public event at the end of November.

The donations are tax-deductible.

Five organizations will benefit: Unite for HER, a Malvern-based nonprofit providing free integrative therapies to breast and ovarian cancer patients; The Sambuco Children's Education Fund, named for Sgt. Christopher "Buc" Sambuco; and A Child's Light, a West Chester organization offering mental health support for children ages 2 to 18 who have experienced severe trauma.

The remaining two beneficiaries are the Crime Victims' Center of Chester County and the West Chester Food Cupboard. The Food Cupboard is Chester County's largest, run entirely by volunteers with no paid staff, according to the organization's website.

Unite for HER is also hosting a 5K Run/2K Walk on Saturday, Oct. 17, in West Chester, according to its website.

Anyone who wants to contribute can send donations to Blue Beards for Charity at 1025 Paoli Pike, West Chester, PA 19380.