By Madison Fisler Lewis
Oct. 2, 2014. On Wednesday, Oct. 1, the Dande Lion in Banner Elk donated $3,011 to the Wilma J. Redmond Fund after a month-long contest involving brassieres, style and a whole lot of fun.
The fundraiser involved 14 bras set up inside the shop that were decorated by local businesses and organizations. Participants voted for their favorite bra by placing donations in the container designated for their favorite.
The contest took place throughout the entire month of September, and a donation was made to the organization just in time for the kickoff of National Breast Cancer Awareness month.
The winning bra in the contest was #10, which was decorated by Seby B. Jones Radiation Oncology.
Present at the donation was Jessica Powell, annual giving coordinator for Appalachian Regional Healthcare Foundation.
“Wilma was our imaging director at Watauga Medical Center for 20 years and she passed away in 2002 after a courageous fight with breast cancer. A fund was established at that time by her friends and family to provide free mammograms for uninsured women over 35 who are getting their first mammogram,” Powell said in a previous interview.
The funds raised by the Dande Lion’s Breast Buddies fundraiser will be donated toward this worthy cause, and will help to ensure that women are given the mammograms that they need for the early detection of breast cancer.
“We are just thrilled,” said Jane Deavers, owner of The Dande Lion. “We started out with a small goal in our minds at the beginning and then we upped the ante once it started going the way we hoped. It is overwhelming, it really is. Yesterday, Linda [Vana] and I both felt a euphoric feeling when we were able to hand over the money.”
Deavers related a story about a kind gentleman who helped to reach the goal in the waning hours of the fundraiser.
“We were just a few dollars short of making our goal and there were still customers in the store,” Deavers said. “There was a gentleman here with his wife that said if we could come up with half of it, he would match it. This was just an hour before we finished, so it was very exciting to meet our goal.”
The ladies at The Dande Lion would like to thank anyone who lent support or donated funds to this worthy cause.
“We want to thank those who helped us financially, and everyone who was just so supportive. Everyone played a part in the success of this fundraiser.”
Linda Vana and Jane Deavers will be speaking about the Breast Buddies event at the upcoming Pink Day event on Oct. 10 through Appalachian Regional Healthcare. In addition, visitors from as far as Houston, Texas and Miami, Fla. were impressed by the fundraiser and hope to implement something similar in their own communities.
“It was very far reaching and it is very rewarding,” Deavers said.
You must be logged in to post a comment.