The Kinston Fire Department and Kinston Police Department have joined together to produce a 2019 calendar.

The calendars, which feature pictures of local firefighters and policemen, are $20 and can be picked up at either department, along with the human resources office in City Hall. All proceeds will go to the employee disaster relief fund, which was created in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence.

“We’ve had employees suffer damages from Hurricane Florence and didn’t have a setup to help them out,” Kinston City Manager Tony Sears said. “We’re doing different things now and created the employee disaster relief fund to help with some of the difficulties. We tried ideas during the Food, Brew and ‘Que Fest, like raffle tickets and thought the calendar would also be helpful.”

Assistant HR Director Lea Mills said the concept started as a bit of a joke, but eventually picked up steam.

“We came together at the barbecue fest, selling raffle tickets for the disaster relief fund and talking about ideas to help raise money,” Mills said. “The firefighters were joking about a calendar and I said, ‘Let’s not joke about it, but do it.’”

She continued, “We split it up — six firefighter pictures, six policemen — and did it to work with everyone’s shifts. Our time was short — we had maybe a week to get it into print—but we found a company in Greenville with a quick turnaround, and (HR Director) Gloria Blake and I put it together.”

KPD Major Jenee Spencer said it was a good way to show contingency among the departments.

“The HR Department took the lead and reached out to us,” Spencer said. “We had our public information officer (Woody Spencer) set up the photography and get everyone together, which was difficult getting everyone together considering different shifts and calls, but we wanted to show camaraderie among the departments.”

For more information about the calendar or another place to pick one up, contact Mills at 252-939-3118 or email her at lea.mills@ci.kinston.nc.us.