DAVENPORT, Iowa — Davenport firefighters made people's days a little brighter on Wednesday.
Members of the Davenport Association of Professional Firefighters Local #17 handed out 100 "care kits" to cancer patients at MercyOne Genesis Infusion Center. The bags included items like blankets, word games, puzzles and notepads. The group raised money through t-shirt sales.
"I wear my face jewelry because I'm letting everybody know," Belinda Hicks, a colon cancer survivor, said while receiving a care kit. "I hate to see when I come in here, people looking sad and stuff. Don't let cancer make you look sad. Make you look good on the outside. Don't let nobody know what you looking at on the outside, because the insides are sick, not the outside."
MercyOne Genesis Infusion Center does about 40 infusions a day. The CDC said more than 600,000 people died from cancer in the United States during 2022.