Call it pink power but don't miss the boat -- Sunday will be the last day to pick up that plastic pink flamingo you've been meaning to take home from Van Wilgen's Garden Center, to join the flock of folks showing support for Smilow Cancer Center at Yale-New Haven Hospital.

The pink birds began showing up on area lawns on June 15. The fundraising effort is the brainchild of Van Wilgen's founder -- and two-time cancer survivor -- Bill Van Wilgen, who picked the date in recognition of his own diagnosis, which came on a Father's Day.

A past Zip06 Person of the Week, the Branford resident is a well-known local volunteer, philanthropist and cancer awareness and research advocate. He announced plans for the fundraiser in the garden center's newsletter, naming the program, "Gardening for the Cure -- Pink Weeks."

"It's kind of a　strange day for me, it was seven years to the day when I was diagnosed with　Leukemia, June 15th 2008," Van Wilgen wrote. "It was six and a half years before that that I was diagnosed with Male Breast Cancer. Yep, guys can get it too."

Van Wilgen said he's now grateful to be in remission and a "happy grandpa" who can give back to the hospital which gave him a new lease on life.

Van Wilgen's Garden Centers in North Branford, Old Saybrook and Milford, as well as a satellite spot at Bishop's Orchards Farm Market in Guilford, have been doing their best to keep up with demand for the birds since the promotion took off.

The company received its fifth large shipment of flamingos on Wednesday "...and we had to overnight it," said Marketing Manager Gina Amaroso, who has no doubt the boxes (posted in a photo at www.facebook.com/VanWilgens) will be empty within a few days.

"We will be out of them when this ends on June 28," said Amaroso, adding total counts and total funds raised should be calculated by Monday, June 29. The last dollar total, taken on June 23, put the fundraising tally at $6,305. Van Wilgen's gives every penny of the $10 cost for each bird to Smilow.

"Every store is selling out. It's quite amazing what it does for awareness of male breast cancer," Amaroso said.

People have been buying more than one. Whole flocks are appearing around the shoreline in gardens, windows and fronting businesses. One day care center bought 13, said Amaroso. She said the hope is the flamingos will stay on display at their adopted habitats all summer, to keep awareness at its peak. People wishing to continue to contribute to the cause after June 28 can make donations via Van Wilgen's, which will be forwarded to Smilow Cancer Center. The two-week promotion will return next summer, she added.

"It's all about awareness. Take care of yourself -- get yourself checked," said Amaroso.