Area police departments are participating in a national project for breast cancer awareness, The Pink Patch Project.

In Iowa City, officers can choose to wear a pink version of the police patch on their uniforms for the month of October. Patches will be for sale at the departments for a minimum donation of $10. The West Liberty police are also participating

The money raised will go to benefit the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center and the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital.

This is the first year for the Iowa City department to participate in the project, public-information Officer Scott Gaarde said.

The Pink Patch Project started in 2013 in Seal Beach, California, where the local department wore pink patches on their uniforms for the month of October. The project grew in 2015 when the Irwindale, California, police began selling the patches to the public, raising more than $20,000 for City of Hope, a cancer research center located in Southern California, Irwindale police Sgt. Rudy Gatto said.

“Since that time, it’s just absolutely expanded and exploded beyond our wildest imagination,” he said.

The number of participating departments has grown from approximately 84 last year to 220 departments this year.

“We encounter people in a variety of situations, at the best of times and the worst of times,” Gatto said. “People will ask us about the patches, and every one of those [situations] presents an opportunity for us to open up those lines of communication.”

Gaarde said one officer has volunteered her time to sew the patches on the officers’ work shirts. He believes the majority of Iowa City officers will participate in the project, and it will continue for years to come.

“It’s just another way to use our visibility as kind of a way to generate funds to hopefully combat this disease and just draw attention to it,” Gaarde said.

RELATED: Police raising money for cancer research through Pink Patch Project

Last year, the Pink Patch Project raised $325,000 nationwide, and it aims to raise more than $500,000 this year.

Sonia Sugg, a University of Iowa clinical professor of oncology, said the funds raised through the project will add to existing philanthropic funds designated specifically for breast-cancer research.

“These funds will be put to good use, and we’re so happy that we’re going to be able to partner with this group to develop a cure for breast cancer,” Sugg said.

She noted that one in eight women will develop breast cancer in the United States.

“The good news is that breast cancer mortality has dropped a lot in the last two decades,” Sugg said. “There was just a paper published showing a 38 percent decrease in mortality, which is really a tremendous advance.”

Sugg said the reason for the decline could be because of better treatment, research, and early detection.