PORT McNEILL—The fifth annual Bras for a Cause fundraiser kicked off quietly earlier this month at The Flower Shoppe.
Its organizers are hoping for a little more noise before the event wraps up during Port McNeill’s OrcaFest celebration Aug. 16.
The brainchild of Flower Shoppe owner Lyn Skrlac, who invited people to submit wildly decorated bras in a fund-raiser for the fight against breast cancer, Bras for a Cause has grown to include the hugely popular Victor’s Secret Pageant, in which North Island men don the foundation garments in mid-winter show to generate additional funds for local recipients.
“We haven’t had a single bra entered yet,” Lynda Biggs said last week at the Flower Shoppe. “It’s for a really good cause, and the wonderful fundraiser the guys do is in jeopardy if we don’t get some bras in.”
During the annual summer event the Flower Shoppe gives over its front window display — and the wall of its outdoor patio — to the creativity of local and visiting artisans, who convert basic bras into crazily decorated garments. The public is then invited to vote on their favourites, with top vote-getters earning prizes when the votes are tallied during OrcaFest.
The entry fee is $5 per bra and votes cost $2 each, with all proceeds going to the Canadian Cancer Society for breast cancer research and treatment.
When an auction of the bras to raise additional funds drew a tepid response in its first year, Cheryl Verbrugge stepped up the next year to conceive the Victor’s Secret Fashion Show and Pageant, and convinced local men to strut their stuff on a runway before sold-out crowds at the local Community Hall.
“That’s a big money-maker for our local community, because all the money stays right here,” Biggs said of the pageant.
To participate, simply decorate a bra in the theme of your choice and deliver it to the Flower Shoppe before Aug. 16. The Flower Shoppe will make its work table, ribbons, glue and other materials available to crafters.