By JESSA PEASE / Staff Writer

PELHAM— Mayor Gary Waters, Police Chief Larry Palmer and Fire Chief Danny Ray each received multiple pies in the face Oct. 30, celebrating their successful fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

“(It was) easier than jumping out of a plane and easier than jumping in cold water at Oak Mountain,” Waters said of getting pied in the face. “The city employees are an extended family and when one hurts, we all hurt. We have one that has been affected by Leukemia and we are all chipping in to help. We need to find a cure.”

Laura Ehrhart, a 13-year dispatcher with the departments, started the fundraiser. In 2013, Ehrhart’s husband was diagnosed with Leukemia, and she said she wanted to take a proactive approach to finding a cure.

Knowing that a little competition would help raise more donations for LLS, Ehrhart contacted Palmer, Ray and Waters. The Fire and Police department competed to see who could raise the most money, and both departments had a goal of $1,500.

Collectively, Ehrhart’s LLS team raised $4,388. Because the Police Department won the competition Palmer pied Ray in the face, and both chiefs pied Waters in the face because they reached the $1,500 goal.

Each of the Pelham leaders was also entered into a drawing, allowing a citizen to pie them in the face. Waters was pied three times and Palmer and Ray got pied twice.

“It’s for a great cause and when she approached me a couple months ago about it, there wasn’t a seconds thought into it,” Palmer. “It was, ‘Yeah, let’s do this.’ I hope that I’m around, that in my lifetime a cure is found.”

When Pelham Police Chief Larry Palmer announced that they would also pie Lt. Davy Lott if the room full of attendees could raise $400 in the next five minutes, the Pelham community pulled together $1,015.

“This is incredible, it’s more than I ever expected,” Ehrhart said. “My goal was $1,000 and we exceeded over $4,000. This is incredible.”

Ehrhart and her family will participate in LLS’s Light the Night walk Nov. 5 at Railroad Park. The walk is to raise awareness and funds for all types of blood cancer.

Through this experience, Ehrhart said she’s learned a lot about other people, and to stress the importance of quality of life over quantity.

“I’ve never done a fundraiser before so I really thought maybe a couple people would donate,” she said. “I really found that people want to help you just have to ask.”

To donate, visit Pages.lightthenight.org/al/birmingh15/lehrhart.