For Milan Lukic the thought of children and their families struggling with leukaemia or blood cancers "really tugs at the hearts strings".

This is why he and five other Whitianga Volunteer Fire Brigade members are putting their bodies on the line for the 2015 Firefighter Sky Tower Stair Challenge taking place in May.

Members of the Whitianga Volunteer Fire Brigade who are taking part in the 2015 Firefighter Sky Tower Stair Challenge. Backrow, from left: Milan Lukic, Hannah-Marie Teller, Callum Stevens and Jason Hoyland. Front row, from left: Max Day and Sean King. Photo Supplied

Each year firefighters from around New Zealand, Australia and the USA compete in the gruelling event which aims to raise funds for Leukaemia & Blood Cancer New Zealand.

Joining Milan this year for the 11th annual challenge will be volunteer firefighters Hannah-Marie Teller, Callum Stevens, Jason Hoyland, Max Day and Sean King.

Milan says most, if not all, the members of the Whitianga team have been affected by leukaemia or blood cancer in some way, which is spurring them on to succeed.

'I can't speak for anyone else, but I've had family and friends who have both been affected by cancer in general,” says Milan. 'I'm also keen to help the kids because leukaemia does affect a number of children.

'This is also a great opportunity to meet a whole bunch of firefighters from around the country, as well as competing against them, especially the permanent staff!

'But at the end of the day I also like being involved with my community and so I'm just getting out there and finding my place within it.”

The team are getting down to the nitty gritty and are training hard for the event, with members climbing up and down Centennial Hill while others have taken to hiking around Cathedral Cove.

They will certainly need to be at their best – Auckland's Sky Tower is 328 metres tall, with 51 flights of stairs and 1,103 individual steps.

A total of 750 firefighters will take part in this year's challenge and each participant will wear up to 25kg of firefighting clothing and equipment.

Milan says this year they started their fundraising efforts earlier which is already starting pay dividends for the team, which has already raised $1,255.

Over Waitangi Weekend the team donned some of their gear and took to the streets around Whitianga with a bucket to collect donations.

'We raised just over $1,000 on the Saturday alone which was well above expectations, we were all blown away by that. 'Our goal for the team was $1,000, so we've surpassed that which is fantastic.”

While the Whitianga brigade members are happy to continue pounding the pavements with their collection buckets, they are also looking for big events where they can seek donations.

Milan says he'd love to hear from anyone organising a big event who would be happy for the Whitianga team to fundraise.

'We'll be doing the usual around the place, sausage sizzles, raffles, that sort of thing, but Easter is just around the corner and that's the only other long weekend left before the challenge.

'Myself and the team would be so grateful to anyone who can help us, it's a great cause and well worth the effort.

'We also want to give a big thank you to everyone who has supported so far, walking away with over $1,000 from our first fundraising effort was definitely a wow moment for us.”

To support the Whitianga Volunteer Fire Brigade in the 2015 Auckland Sky Tower Challenge you can make a donation by clicking here.

For more information about the challenge visit: www.firefightersclimb.org.nz