UNIQUE HAIR DESIGN & Day Spa in Battle Ground is now a collection location for the Gift of Lift, a part of the Pink Lemonade Project. The Gift of Lift is a program that aims to collect bras for women in need. Anyone can drop off their new or slightly used bras at the hair salon, located at 315 W. Main St., Battle Ground.
UNIQUE HAIR DESIGN & Day Spa in Battle Ground is now a collection location for the Gift of Lift, a part of the Pink Lemonade Project. The Gift of Lift is a program that aims to collect bras for women in need. Anyone can drop off their new or slightly used bras at the hair salon, located at 315 W. Main St., Battle Ground.
In November 2011, Dr. Allen Gabriel and his colleagues at PeaceHealth Medical Group Plastic Surgery launched the Gift of Lift Bra Donation Program, part of the Pink Lemonade Project, to encourage women to donate their slightly-used or new bras to the women of Haiti.
The response from women in the community has been so successful that Gabriel was not only able to take more than 2,000 bras with him during his annual trip to Haiti, but he was also able to start collecting bras for women who currently live in area homeless shelters and for local clothes closets.
Recently, Unique Hair Design & Day Spa in Battle Ground partnered with the Pink Lemonade Project/Gift of Lift and has become a collection site for gently-used and new bras. The Pink Lemonade Project is a mission to provide breast cancer survivors education and support opportunities that offer hope and healing for the mind, body and spirit.
“I believe that cancer touches all of us somewhere and sometime in our lives,” said Nora Hinkle, an esthetician (skin care therapist) at Unique Hair Design & Day Spa. “We believe that working within our community is our responsibility and it is an honor to help those we can. This was an easy decision for us. We received our collection bin the end of May and have received many bras to date. Our clients love the idea.”
Once all the bras are collected, Hinkle said they are cleaned by a group of students from Hockinson High School and are then stored in the basement of Divine Consign on Main Street in Vancouver. The area shelters in Vancouver that service and help women in the community and surrounding areas are then notified by the Gift of Lift staff that they are available for pick up. The bras are picked up once a month.
“We all purchase them (bras) and know that many times we get home and the darn thing is not comfortable, but the hassle of returning them is too much work,” Hinkle said. “So, they sit in our drawers doing nothing, unless all of our comfy ones are dirty.”
Anyone can donate their slightly-used or new bras. Unique Hair Design & Day Spa is located at 315 W. Main St., Battle Ground, and is open Mon.-Sat., typically 10 a.m.-5 p.m. They can be reached at (360) 687-3722.
Other locations that are currently collecting bras include PeaceHealth Medical Group Plastic Surgery Clinic, 505 NE 87th Ave., Building A, Suite 250, Vancouver; PeaceHealth Southwest eighth floor lobby, Medical Center Firstenburg Tower; Shanahan’s, 209 W. McLoughlin Blvd., Vancouver; and Divine Consign Furniture, 904 Main St., Vancouver.
According to the Pink Lemonade Project website, “The gift of a simple bra brings with it greater gifts – confidence and smiles.”
