Hey mister, can you spare some change?

The Cherokee County Fire Chiefs Association will join shoppers Friday at locations across the county but it won't necessarily be on the lookout for bargains.

It's hoping, instead, that holiday shoppers might be able to spare some change.

Members of the association will be conducting a boot drive to help fund their Fire Safety Team's educational mission throughout the year.

Safety team member Eddie Bishop of the Blacksburg Volunteer Fire Department, who's among a dedicated group of firefighters who teach children fire safety as a fire clown, said the team members would be positioned around shopping centers from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

"If you see a fireman with a boot in his hand this Friday, they're doing it for the safety team," Bishop said.

All donations will be used for the safety team's mission, from the upkeep and maintenance of the team's mobile classroom to educational materials like coloring books about fire safety, Bishop said.

The safety team members reach practically every grade school student in the county with lessons about the importance of smoke detectors, how to escape a burning building, and what to do if they see or smell smoke.