Cranston Business Designs Bra, Raises $1K for Breast Cancer Fund

It’s not every day that a company can show support for a local cause by decorating a bra to auction off for charity. But on Friday, that’s just what Cranston’s did.

In the second annual Bras for a Cause event hosted by the Northern RI Women's Council of Realtors, a 56 year old Loan Originator from Primary Residential Mortgage showed off his company’s creativity and support for breast cancer resources by wearing a custom designed bra made by his co-workers. The object? To get the hundreds of attendees to empty their pockets and bid on the bra to benefit the Gloria Gemma Breast Cancer Resource Foundation.

The draw of the event features 12 “men of the year” in custom designed bras themed toward holidays throughout the year. Primary Residential Mortgage’s “model representative” Ken Cesaro says his month, November, proved to be one of the more difficult months to design a theme around.

“When you think of November, you think of Thanksgiving, but all I knew is that I definitely didn’t want to walk out on stage looking like a turkey,” Cesaro said laughing. “So we looked at the calendar and I was pretty relieved to find out that we could do Veterans Day instead.”

Cesaro says his bra offered a tribute to Veterans and the United States military as well as to those battling breast cancer.

“I think it worked out really well,” Cesaro said. “I think people expected some sort of Thanksgiving theme, but I think celebrating our military while supporting breast cancer survivors and resources made it that much more meaningful.”

Decked out in camouflage, bullets and shotgun shells, Cesaro’s bra sold to the highest bidder for $1,000, with all proceeds donated to the Gloria Gemma Breast Cancer Resource Foundation.

According to event organizer Sherri Mercurio of Re/Max Preferred in North Smithfield, the bra auctions raised more than triple the amount from the year prior, totaling $27,000. While Mercurio says she was overwhelmed by the turnout and generous contributions, the involvement of dozens of breast cancer survivors made the night all that more special for everyone involved.

“I can’t wait to present the check to the Gloria Gemma Foundation,” Mercurio said, “but I think the best thing about this event was having the survivors involved in the show. To see the laughter and smiles on their faces knowing that this night was for them was truly priceless.”