In honour of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the Country 105/Energy 99.7 Studio, located on George Street, was covered in over 6,500 bras. This October was the fifth anniversary of the event, and saw the collection of more bras than any of the four years before. This year, the bra-covered building collected over $13,000, and still counting, to donate towards the Canadian Cancer Society. All this had been done thanks to the generosity of OLG Slots at Kawartha and a lot of local business and community donors. After the event, the bras will be cleaned and donated to an organization called Bras For The Congo.
Vince Bierworth, Promotions Coordinator and Trent Alumni, explained exactly how much covering a building with bras could benefit a community. “The idea initially started as an attempt to accomplish two things,” Bierworth explained. The first was “to create an event that raised much needed funds and awareness, utilizing the large audience both radio stations have, to donate to the Canadian Cancer Society for Breast Cancer Research.” The second goal was to “create a great visual event that makes a statement and gets people talking about the cause.” Seeing over 6,500 very colourful bras hanging from a very prominent building in downtown is hard to miss, and at the very least, will prompt people to ask, “what is going on?”
It’s a fun, quirky idea that raises money and awareness for a very serious issue that affects many in our community. Not only has this idea benefited Peterborough, but now “the event has, for the first time this year, extended beyond Peterborough with a ‘Bras Around The Building’ event on the same day in Lindsay,” Bierworth shared.
He continued to say that the bra show is all “about using the power of the media we have to do some good in our community and help those individuals and families affected by Breast Cancer during Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October.”
Bierworth described, “Every time I looked out the window after we hung the bras, I saw people stopped on the street, pulling into our parking lot, or standing in Del Crary Park taking photos of the building. Many people have come in off the street asking about what was going on. And after explaining it to them, many left a donation. Traffic on George Street in front of our building definitely slowed down for a look at the building after we hung the bras. We’re sorry if it took a little longer to get home that day”.
“As I was actively involved in creating the spectacle of bras hanging from our studio, I’m proud of the money we raised, the awareness we created, and the people that will be helped from our efforts,” Bierworth said. He also wanted to make sure to give thanks to everyone: “On behalf of Country 105 and Energy 99.7, along with the Canadian Cancer Society, I would like to thank everyone who made a donation and/or volunteered their time and energy to make this event happen. It continues to be a great success because of the people who rally behind it.”
