Bras hang over the Kansas River on the Second Street Bridge in Lawrence. The bras were hung to raise breast cancer awareness.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Emily Willis, owner of Salon Hawk, said one place she hadn’t expected to see the economy take a toll was at her annual breast cancer fundraiser. But the fundraiser, which is collecting bras for the annual “Bras Across the Kaw” and is selling hair extensions and T-shirts, has only raised a small fraction of its $10,000 goal.
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Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Bras Across the Kaw featured bras hanging over the Kansas River to raise awareness for breast cancer.
Last year, Salon Hawk’s fundraising made up roughly a fifth of the total money Lawrence Memorial Hospital raised last year for breast cancer awareness month.
Graphic by Michelle Sprehe
“It’s been a lot slower this year,” Willis said. “The economy has played a big role in that since money is tight and people are so strapped for cash.”
Willis also said the fundraiser didn’t have as many bras to hang across the Kansas River as part of the “Bras across the Kaw” fundraiser as it had in the past two years. The bras, which were hung October 15, will later be donated to Lawrence women’s shelters.
However, Willis said she didn’t think the economy was the only factor slowing fundraising this year.
She said that there hadn’t been as much publicity this year and that not all of the publicity had been positive.
“If you turn this into a negative thing, it slows down the good we do,” Willis said, referring to the letter to the editor published in The University Daily Kansan earlier this month.
The letter said Willis’ attempts to raise breast cancer awareness were hypocritical because the Sun of a Beach tanning salon, which Willis also owns, co-sponsored the fundraiser. In actuality, the hair salon, which is solely sponsoring the event, is a separate business from the tanning salon.
“It did spark a controversy, which caused people to pay a little more attention,” she said. “But sometimes that doesn’t necessarily help.”
Amber Adams, Willis’ roommate who has been helping with the fundraiser, said that the majority of donated bras usually came from sororities and that she expected to see more come in as the fundraiser continued to push forward. The bras will continue to be collected and donated, even though “Bras Across the Kaw” has already hung a portion of them.
Throughout October, Willis also hosts pink parties to promote the fundraiser. At a pink party, Willis goes to people’s houses or even to student housing to give pink hair extensions to residents.
“This type of thing really hits home with a lot of people,” Adams said. “It should pick up a lot with the pink parties.”
Despite the lack of funds making their way to Salon Hawk’s fundraiser, Heather Ackerly, foundation and corporate relations manager of Lawrence Memorial Hospital, said at this point they were still on track to reach their goal amount of $50,000.
“There has been a huge community effort this year,” Ackerly said. “Lots of other organizations have pitched in this year and, overall, there are more community fundraising events taking place.”
Willis said the sororities had also decided to pitch in to help this year, selling T-shirts as a part of the Salon Hawk fundraiser.
“I think these last weeks could be great for her,” Ackerly said of Willis. “We’re still in the early stages of the fundraiser.”
— Edited by Abbey Strusz
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