Our Story

Matt Fleck, a Joliet firefighter, and his wife Sandra, a market leader for Heartland Bank and Trust, were tired of writing checks to large organizations and not knowing where the money went. Sandra’s sister and mother are both cancer survivors, and they witnessed firsthand how cancer can strike. Matt and Sandra wanted to give back to their local community, and they wanted to ensure the funds went to people who actually needed help. In 2012, the Pink Heals Tour made a stop in Joliet at their request. There were over 1,000 people in attendance for the first Pink Heals Event in Joliet. The event raised $12,000, and they were able to give the earnings to a local cancer treatment center.

In January 2013, Matt and Sandra formed the Joliet Area Chapter along with Casey and Angie Caldwell,
Chris Baltz, Alyssa Cicero, and Dawn Bluemke. We are grateful for their help along the way! In 2020, we transitioned to a new Executive Board and since then we have continued to grow!

The chapter started with three pink vehicles - ADDISON, TINA, and KRIS. Today we bring along three fire trucks - ADDISON, KRIS, and MICHELLE alongside two police cars TINA and MARGE, and one ambulance, PEGGY. We are able to host three main events including the Mother's Day Walk, Wine Down, and Tee-Off. The growth of our organization would not be possible without the help of our volunteers and the amazing community support.

Meet The Founders

Matt founded Pink Heals Joliet Area Chapter in January 2013. He served as President from 2013-2019. We are forever grateful for his leadership and for bringing Pink Heals to our Community!

Sandra has been instrumental in all things Pink Heals Joliet! She founded our chapter along with Matt in January 2013. She has held previous positions as Vice President 2013-2018, Treasurer 2013-2019 and Director of Merchandise (2016-2017) over the years. We would not be the chapter we are today without her love, support and guidance. We are forever grateful to Sandra and all she has contributed over the years!!

Pink Heals National Tour

“The Pink Heals Tour” and the “Cares Enough to Wear Pink” program are about our community, our family, our neighbors, and our leaders and how it will help bring us back together to focus on our own people now, rather than on promises that were never kept, opportunities that were lost, and things that might have been. Pink will heal as long as we do it in service to our women and what they mean to us in our communities, not just because they are sick or stricken with cancer. Because if we use illness as the sole motivation for action, once the sickness is gone, so is our cause for coming together.” Dave Graybill (Pink Heals Founder) The national tour website is pinkfiretrucks.org.