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Thursday, March 28, 2024
The Observer

Saint Mary's club hosts bra drive

This week, Saint Mary’s Women in Healthcare hosted its inaugural bra drive as part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The group planned to hang the bras across the Lake Marian Bridge in the center of campus to draw attention to women's health.

Co-president of the club, Alayna Frauhiger, said Saint Mary's Women in Healthcare is a student organization that serves as a resource for women interested in medical graduate programs. Throughout the year, it usually sponsors an alumnae panel for women interested in healthcare and provides academic support.

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Frauhiger said she first heard of the “Bras Across the Bridge” idea online through the Feel Your Boobies Foundation; she brought the idea to other committee members, and they decided to begin a new tradition.

“I thought we could do [the bra chain] on a smaller scale since we are an all women’s campus, and it’s important to know the risk factors for breast cancer,” she said.

The main idea behind the slogan “Bras Across the Bridge” is that bras support women each day, and together women can support each other, Frauhiger said.

She said each bra will have a pink ribbon pinned to it for breast cancer awareness.

"It’s humbling, too, to see [the bras] up there, because it’s something we take for granted, because we wear bras each day, but some people have that taken away," she said.

The bras were hung in the Student Center Atrium on Tuesday night due to rain, but Frauhiger said the importance of hanging the bras from a bridge is really about awareness.

After hanging the chain of bras, the club hosted a yoga class charging either $2 or bra donation, Frauhiger said.

“We wanted to do something in October for Breast Cancer Awareness, and we didn’t want to ask for money. So [our event] is really about awareness,” she said.

Some of the donations have come from people affected by breast cancer. She said that should be important to students, because women of all ages are being diagnosed with breast cancer.

Frauhiger said in addition to raising awareness, bras from the event will be donated to the local YWCA.

“Students should want to be a part of something bigger,” she said. “It’s really about women supporting other women, whether or not you know someone affected by breast cancer or not.”