HERS Breast Cancer Foundation :: Bras for Body & Soul

FAQs

The HERS Breast Cancer Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, provides programs and services supporting the needs of women and families affected by breast cancer in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Bras for Body & Soul®, a program of the HERS Breast Cancer Foundation, provides medically necessary items such as bras, prosthesis, lymphedema sleeves, wigs and more, to women who have had breast surgery. We also carry bras appropriate for all women and girls, including nursing bras.

Keep Abreast Walk - Essay

This essay was written by HERS Volunteer Gina B., as part of her college application process. Gina helped with a number of HERS projects and the Keep Abreast Walk, while in high school. She is now a student at Mills College. Thanks, Gina, for all of your support!

“Click…click. Click…click.” Great, it’s 5am, pitch black and my brand new flashlight doesn’t work. The pavilion arrived late, the raccoons got into the LUNA bars-I’m not sure what happens if rodents eat them (they say “for women” right on the package)- and now, I can’t even see what I’m doing. Although I was beginning to question my sanity, there was something magical about being there before it all began and watching it all come together. Chaos aside, it ended up being worth it; helping the HERS Breast Cancer Foundation put on their annual Keep Abreast walk was an amazing experience.

Never having participated in the actual walk myself, I never realized how important it was for some people to be participants. This proved true when all of the breast cancer survivors lined up on the stage and gave their name and how long they had been cancer-free. As I watched some of the special women that I had been working with step up to the microphone, I put on my sunglasses so that on one could see the tears forming in my eyes. There I was, witnessing all this strength and courage and how by being on that stage meant that these women had triumphed over a devilish disease, when it suddenly hit me. I am so lucky. No one truly close to me has had breast cancer. I’ve had perfect health, even a perfect life, compare to some of those ladies. My family is wonderful and supportive. My friends are loyal and remarkable young men and women. I thought I appreciated them, but it was then, as I was getting chocked up, that my love for them strengthened and grew. While I hope that I am never one of those women on the stage, I am awed by the power of the HERS foundation to touch an incredible number of lives. It is their passion and their purpose in life. To be part of that is truly an honor.

After a day of observations, I yearned to find a word to sum it all up. I finally caught a glimpse of two beautiful female monks with shaved heads, orange robes and sandaled feet, when it struck me that the word I was looking for was peace. Hectic lives aside, we were all there because of an insidious disease, yet there was such an aura of tranquility encompassing everyone. Women from everywhere had united for a cause, showing that there is indeed still hope for HER.