TIFTON — Pink Heals, the non-profit that works to lift the spirits of those struggling with illness, has a bright new presence in Tifton.

The Tift area chapter of the national organization debuted its newly-painted pink fire truck on Sept. 18 by visiting various sponsors around the area.

The first stop was at Rusty Moore’s Body Shop, which is one of the sponsors. The other sponsors are Hampton Inn and Suites Tifton, Powerhouse Outdoor Equipment and The Howard Center for Women’s Health.

The truck was donated to the organization by the City of Manchester, New Hampshire, according to Kirk Baldree, a member of Tift County Fire Rescue and active member of the local Pink Heals chapter.

“That truck actually responded to the World Trade Center on 9/11,” Baldree said. “There’s some stickers on the side that were put on every vehicle that responded and that (truck) is one of them. That’s pretty cool, that we’ve got something like that in South Georgia.”

“We got it back in March,” he said. “We’ve been raising money to get it painted. Mr. Rusty was gracious enough to help us get it painted pink.”

Moore said that the process of taking the red paint off and putting the pink paint on took approximately seven to eight days. Part of that process was painstakingly covering the stickers and painting around them so they could be preserved.

“I’ve got a neighbor they helped,” he said. “She’s got MS (multiple sclerosis). They’ve helped her and I’ve seen what kind of work they’ve done.”

Baldree said that the fire truck will be going around on official visits, and each person the organization helps will get to sign the truck.

One such visit was to the little girl the truck was named after.

Ashlynn Johnson is a one-year-old girl in Fitzgerald who is undergoing chemotherapy for an inoperable brain tumor.

The non-profit, all-volunteer chapter covers a 50-mile area around Tifton and are looking to raise money to help their patients.

The chapter will be sponsoring a Pink Heals Block Party on Oct. 4 as part of the Pink Heals National Tour, which will be in the area on Oct. 4-5.

The block party will be in the parking lot of the Tifton Mall from 4-9 p.m. It will feature music, bounce houses, a cornhole tournament and a dunking booth where attendees have the opportunity to dunk local leaders and elected officials.

For more information contact Pink Heals at (229) 392-9950 or visit www.pinkhealsttco.org.