TORONTO, Ont. – In a rather colourful fashion at Truck World, the Ontario Trucking Association (OTA) together with Prostate Cancer Canada launched the Wear Plaid for Dad donation drive.

The Wear Plaid for Dad campaign was created to raise awareness and money to help protect men from prostate cancer (by encouraging them to go to the doctor more frequently) and support those families impacted by the disease. The campaign runs until Father’s Day on June 17, where people across Canada will wear plaid to show their support.

“The reason this is so important is, at the end of the day, when it comes to health…guys are idiots. We don’t want to talk about health. We don’t want to go to the doctor. And health below the waist? If we ain’t bragging about it, we ain’t talking about it,” said Rocco Rossi , CEO of Prostate Cancer Canada. “And because of that, way too many men die and suffer unnecessarily every year.”

Rossi said that prostate cancer needs more awareness because men don’t know the facts. He said prostate cancer is more prevalent than breast cancer is in women.

“One in nine Canadian women will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year, while one in eight Canadian men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year,” he said. “So it’s critical that a man’s man industry like the trucking industry can get out there and tell other men to get checked every year.”

To show their support for the cause, OTA members Scott Tilley, president of Tandet Logistics and James Steed of Steed Standard Transport dressed up one of their trailers each that sport graphics to promote the campaign. The OTA supported the campaign last year and its carrier members raised the second largest total of any other organization participating, and this year, the OTA says it wants to be the first.

“Carrier members like James Steed and Scott Tilley were the catalysts. They issued a challenge and the members responded and they had a lot of fun doing it,” said OTA president David Bradley. “This year, let’s make sure we beat all those doctors and lawyers and be number one is Canada because I know you are part of the most generous industry there is.”

To get the campaign rolling, the OTA is also launching a photo contest for those in the industry. Participants are encouraged to send their most creative plaid-clad photos to Twitter. Upload your photo of you wearing a plaid tie, plaid pyjama bottoms or a plaid shirt etc. to Twitter and be sure to mention @OnTruck and use the hashtag #plaidfordad.

For more information on how you can donate to the cause, please go to: www.ontruck.org.