"Bras Across the Bosque"

As Breast Cancer Awareness Month was nearing the end on Friday, October 30, local Clear Channel radio station KPEK-100.3 “The Peak” along with the American Cancer Society and The Peak's sister station KZRR 94 Rock hosted an event dubbed “Bras Across the Bosque" in which hundreds of bras were strung across the Montano Bridge in Albuquerque to help raise awareness about breast cancer.

The event got the attention of the local media as well as numerous commuters crossing the bridge during morning rush hour. The event was generously sponsored by Lovelace Women’s Hospital and M&F Auto Sales. Albuquerque Tents donated supplies to display the bras.

Bras were collected from community members throughout the month at various Lovelace Health System locations, M&F Auto Sales locations, the Peak Studios as well as at the University of New Mexico by members of Colleges Against Cancer. After the event’s conclusion the donated bras were donated to the Storehouse to be cleaned and available for those in need.

Crew from the radio station joined with Society staff Geraldine Esquivel, district executive director for NM; Mike Radigan, executive director for NM, Enrico Jeantete, lead community relationship manager and event organizer; John Weisgerber, regional communications manager for the Society; and John Patrick Weisgerber, 12-year-old volunteer, to string the bras together in the early hours before the morning commute.

More than 192,000 women in the United States will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer this year, and more than 40,000 will die from the disease. This year about 1,090 women in New Mexico will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer, and approximately 240 die from breast cancer. Awareness is important because treatment works best when breast cancer is diagnosed at an early stage.