Elaine's Blog |

december 05, 2011 05:36pm

Post-Surgery Bras Recycled!

The Bra Recyclers recently donated post-surgery bras, prosthesis and bra inserts to The Alala Cancer Society in South Carolina in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness and Bra Recycling Month. The post-surgery bras and prosthesis are provided to women battling and survivors of breast cancer who cannot otherwise afford them. This gift provides the recipient with encouragement and support during and after the fight against breast cancer.

The Alala Cancer Society is the nonprofit arm of Alala, LLC. Kim Neel, a five year survivor of breast cancer and Chair for the Alala Cancer Society, and Sherry Norris founded the nonprofit division of Alala, LLC after discovering that many of the customers they serve are either uninsured or underinsured and unable to afford these highly expensive bras and prosthesis. These uninsured and underinsured clients are added to the Alala Cancer Society’s waiting list until donated prosthesis and post-surgery bras arrive from partner companies such as The Bra Recyclers, as well as women going through reconstruction.

Neel and her staff noted that the donated post-surgery bras and prosthesis from The Bra Recyclers came at the perfect time as they prepare to do fitting with a local transitional home in December. “As trained mastectomy fitters, we have the advantage of being able to give women a great lift, regardless of their circumstance and we sometimes get very creative with our fittings. We never stop trying to make sure that all women keep their dignity and personal integrity,” Neel stated.

Elaine Birks-Mitchell, CEO and Founder of The Bra Recyclers, is honored to be able to provide these expensive, but necessary garments to women who are fighting and survivors of breast cancer. Being able to help those impacted by breast cancer is “the least I can do,” stated Birks Mitchell. “Breast Cancer is near and dear to my heart because my sister is a breast cancer survivor. Watching my sister go through the recovery journey was an eye opener for our entire family. What I found was helpful for not just my sister, but for the rest of our family, was having each other as a support system. Breast cancer is such a devastating disease by donating post-surgery bras, The Bra Recyclers are able to ease the journey for a woman during her fight for recovery with an item often taken for-granted, a bra”.

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november 21, 2011 05:54pm

We Exceeded Bra Recycling Month Goal

October 2011 marked the second annual Bra Recycling Month, hosted by Arizona based textile recycling company The Bra Recyclers. The Bra Recyclers launched the event with a goal to collect 10,000 bras during the month of October in an effort to help reshape a life and bring awareness to domestic violence and breast cancer in a unique way. The Bra Recyclers are excited to report that so far they have collected 11,000 bras and still counting!

The annual bra recycling event sparked numerous local events across the country hosted by Bra Recycling Ambassadors. The team of Bra Recycling Ambassadors leaped at the opportunity to promote recycling bras to reshape a life in their community. Commenting on her participation in a recycling event in North Carolina, Ambassador Charlene Bassett noted, “I feel like one of Santa’s elves! Thanks to you [The Bra Recyclers] for the inspiration of bra recycling; I am so excited.”

This year’s Bra Recycling Month’s ambassadors were very diverse. The 2011 Bra Recycling Month campaign inspired women’s organizations such as Sisters of Esteem in California, offered a unique bonding opportunity to mothers and teenage daughters who formed ambassador teams, and helped launch new municipal bra recycling programs at Tucson Environmental Services in Arizona, and in Cecil County in Maryland.

Individual Bra Recycling Ambassadors were not alone in their effort to recycle bras this October, partnering with local businesses in their area to expand their recycling effort. Ambassador Laura Hoffman of Illinois partnered with Lake Health to provide local women a location to donate their bras and ultimately collected over 1500 bras. Additionally, retailers such as GAP Body in Roseville, CA joined in the month long recycling effort recycling 170 bras.

This most recent accomplishment for The Bra Recyclers is only one of the many accomplishments for 2011. CEO and Founder, Elaine Birks-Mitchell said, “I am so excited about the results of bra recycling month. When we set the goal we knew it would be achievable because of the passion and commitment to support women and girls in transition from our Bra Recycling Ambassadors, individual recyclers and partners. In 2011 we have exceeded every goal we have set, from expanding our charity connection outreach to recycling more than 11,000 bras during Bra Recycling Month. We look forward to 2012 and continuing our efforts to spread the word about bra recycling and influencing the lives of women and girls in communities around the world.”
This year’s bra recycling month was even more special because The Bra Recyclers had the opportunity to donate post-surgery bras and prosthesis to Alala in South Carolina. Alala provides these specialty bras to women battling and survivors of breast cancer who cannot otherwise afford them. Alala has also been in contact with a transitional home of 21 women and they will be doing complimentary post-surgery bra fittings.

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october 26, 2011 01:01pm

Toronto Recycling Bras!

Phoenix, AZ; Toronto, Ontario (October 23, 2011) – The Bra Recyclers, a textile recycling company based in Gilbert, Arizona, has joined forces with Elephant Shoes in Toronto, Canada in an effort to continue to bring the environmental and social benefits of bra recycling to every community. Elephant Shoes will be collecting bras for The Bra Recyclers on a permanent basis, providing an opportunity for local women to make a difference on a global scale.

Bra Recycling Ambassador, Veronika Szanczuk, has been diligently working to bring bra recycling to the community in Toronto, establishing Elephant Shoes as a permanent drop off location in a part of her effort. Szanczuk references her desire to help women feel beautiful and confident as her motivation for joining The Bra Recyclers cause. Szanczuk stated, “As a jewelry designer, my goal is to make each woman who wears one of my unique creations to feel beautiful, strong, and confident. As a Bra Recycling Ambassador, I am expanding my goal and helping women to feel that much more beautiful and confident, empowering them to believe in themselves as they deserve to.” Szanczuk is currently in the process of planning a formal bra recycling event alongside Elephant Shoes and her company, Yours Only Jewelry, partnered with The Bra Recyclers for the second annual Bra Recycling Month this October.

For The Bra Recyclers CEO, Elaine Birks-Mitchell, the BRAvolution is about bringing the benefits of bra recycling to as many communities globally as possible. Recycling bras versus throwing them in the trash provides a number of environmental and social benefits, such as reducing waste in landfills and providing for those in need. “By recycling bras versus throwing them away, women can do their part to re-shape the lives of women in need within their community. For a woman in a domestic violence or homeless situation, having a clean, properly fitted bra is low on the list of priorities, with food, shelter and safety taking precedence. Our effort not only delays the number of textile waste entering the waste stream but also helps provide a simple gift of encouragement and confidence to a woman in her most desperate hours.”

Toronto citizens can drop off bras at Elephant Shoes, located at 1342 Bloor St. in Toronto, during regular business hours. The Bra Recyclers are also currently seeking a shelter in Toronto to support on a permanent basis. Women’s shelters interested in receiving bras are encouraged to contact Elaine Birks-Mitchell: bras@brarecycling.com, 480-988-2283.

About Elephant Shoes:
Elephant Shoes in Toronto, Ontario is an artisan collective that carries works from Canadian artists, offers gallery and studio spaces, and art workshops for artists of all ages. Elephant Shoes promotes the gifting of items made with love. For more information, please visit http://elephantshoes.ca/

About Yours Only, Original Jewelry Design:
Yours Only, founded by Veronika Szanczuk, is the product of her inspiration to follow her dreams of creating beautiful jewelry for women and girls of all ages. Each jewelry piece is handmade, one of a kind, and made just for you. For more information, and to view jewelry collections, please visit http://yoursonly.ca/site/.

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october 20, 2011 04:35pm

Support to Sacramento

The Bra Recyclers, a textile recycling company based in Gilbert, Arizona, recently extended support to the Sacramento area. The Bra Recyclers, who support women’s shelters across the nation as well as women’s organizations globally, will be providing recycled bras to The Children’s Receiving Home of Sacramento on a permanent basis.

Children’s Receiving Home is a state licensed facility that serves children ages 1-17 and assists between 1,200 and 1,800 children each year. According to Tanya Kravchuk, “The Children’s Receiving Home of Sacramento is committed to changing the lives of the abused and neglected children and their families by providing a safe haven of comfort, hope and healing.” Children assisted by the organization often arrive with little, if any possessions. They “often get the first birthday present of their life at our home,” Kravchuk stated.

The Bra Recyclers aim to provide women and girls in need with the bra they need to feel encouraged, beautiful and confident during their most desperate hours. Touching on the environmental and social benefits of recycling gently used bras, Birks-Mitchell stated, “Having clean and properly fitted bra to wear is not usually at the top of the list for women and girls in need due to other priorities, such as food, shelter, and safety. We want to do our part by providing a simple encouragement that will lift a woman’s spirit, boost her self esteem, and ultimately help re-shape a life. Not only are we able to provide this important gift at the time of need, but bra recycling also helps delay the number of textiles entering the waste stream.”

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september 09, 2011 01:29pm

Featured in Waste and Recycling News

The Bra Recyclers were featured today in Waste and Recycling News! Check out the article at
http://www.wasterecyclingnews.com/headlines2.html?cat=1&id=1315574833

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july 28, 2011 01:47pm

Supporting Girls for Back To School

Operation Community Outreach is the second organization in Texas that The Bra Recyclers have been given the privilege to support. For many children and families across the nation, back to school is a very stressful time financially. Operation Community Outreach provides new and gently used clothing to families in need supporting the Garland Independent School District. As the 2011-2012 school year approaches, school counselors and churches are recommending families to be assisted by Operation Community Outreach to be provided with 2 new school outfits, shoes, underwear and socks per child. The children range from K-12th grade.

According to Cathy Dougherty, Executive Director, “An important relevance for this mission is by supporting children with school appropriate clothing and needed supplies; we are, in a very real and tangible way, showing them the importance and value being placed on their education and increasing their self worth. Most of us were blessed enough to remember how carefully we picked out that outfit for the first day of school. How we could not wait to get the school supply list and go shopping to get them. We organized them a hundred times before that first day and knew we had the “coolest” backpack, etc! Well, too many children simply do not get that chance. Another school year comes with dread, disappointment and another reminder that they are “poor”. They go to that first day in the same faded jeans or uniform pants and dirty sneakers they or their sibling wore last year. This mission is just a start. But it represents a small chance for each child to show up to school in a new outfit with the proper equipment and supplies, and feel the pride for just once of being equal to their more fortunate peers, regardless of their true circumstances, at least for a little while. We believe that this effort and others like it will hopefully begin reinforcing their desire to go to/stay in school, to succeed, and to begin to stem the tide of childhood/teen illiteracy. It may even ultimately contribute, in some small way, to helping to lower dropout rates in "at risk" local populations.”

Of the approximately 200 children Operation Community Outreach will sponsor this year, an estimated 50-100 will be pre teen and teenage girls. Recycled bras provided by The Bra Recyclers will help fulfill their unique need.

For more information on Operation Community Outreach, or to learn how you can help these in-need school children in other ways, please visit their website at operationcommunityoutreach.org

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july 12, 2011 05:16pm

Babes Oasis Supports Women in Need

Babe’s Oasis Hotel on South Padre Island is one of our more unique bra recycling drop off locations. The hotel in Texas is “one of the nations favorite places for a vacation” offering more than just sun, sea and sand. Babe’s Oasis is centrally located to provide guests with golf, windsurfing, kite boarding, dolphin watching, fishing and is close to the Schlitterbahn Beach Water Park, and Sea Turtle Inc. The hotel is also pet friendly!

As a permanent drop off location for The Bra Recyclers, Babe’s Oasis is able to collect bras from travelers all over the globe who come to stay and play. They also offer an incentive to recycle: donate a gently used or new bra and receive 10% off your total stay!!

To learn more about Babe’s Oasis or to plan your summer vacation, visit www.babesoasis.com

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july 06, 2011 05:16pm

Second Quarter Highlights

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july 05, 2011 02:11pm

Expanding Support to Alabama!

The recent Donate a Mammogram Gala and bra drive generated a great response. Tonda and her team collected 481 bras in just a few short hours. We are so grateful for their effort and know the women at Jessie’s Place in Birmingham, AL, where the bras will be donated, will be too.

Jessie’s Place is a part of The Jimmie Hale Mission and exclusively provides support and a save haven for homeless women and children seeking shelter. Women and children being assisted by Jessie’s Place are involved in daily life skills training, Bible studies, case management, education remediation, counseling, career readiness and children’s programs such as play therapy.

The website for Jessie’s Place quotes a child they have served as saying ““Mommy, can we stay here, or do we have to sleep in our car again?”. Executive Director, Malissa Smitha, noted that they are “always in need of clothing items to be able to provide them to our clients. Without generous donations like yours, we would not have everything our clients need”.

To learn more about Jessie’s Place, and to watch an inspiring story of success, please visit http://www.jimmiehalemission.com/content.asp?id=384873

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june 20, 2011 04:45pm

Supporting Joplin Tornado Victims

Many of you saw The Bra Recyclers featured on Arizona’s FOX 10 news this morning for our commitment to help the women of Joplin rebuild by providing recycled bras to the Lafayette House. Lafayette House provides women and children a safe environment to seek refuge from abuse. With the recent tornadoes in Joplin, Lafayette House opened it’s doors to the women and families who lost everything in the tornadoes devastating path. Even after Joplin rebuilds itself, The Bra Recyclers will continue to be a presence in the lives of women staying at Lafayette House.

In addition to fulfilling the role as an emergency shelter, The Lafayette House promotes self-sufficiency through education and encouragement and strives to address the community’s evolving needs. Women are encouraged to make their own choices and find equality and accountability in relationships.

Bras provided to Lafayette House by The Bra Recyclers will help to provide a basic need to the women who have sought shelter with nothing. These bras will boost their confidence and empower them to move forward.

We are excited to be able to help those in need, both because of violence or as victims of the tornado, immediately and into the future.

If you missed the feature on FOX News, you can view the feature at http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/morning_show/bra-recycling-helps-tornado-victims-06162011 .

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The Bra Recyclers is excited about supplying recycled bras to women in communities around the world.