When it came time for Brooke Mowry and Cristina Orndorff to pick a team name to walk in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer, there was no contest.
“The Jugg-ernaughts. We felt it exemplifies the courage and determination that men and women show in order to beat the disease,” Mowry said. “At first, we got some skeptical looks, but it?s all about positivity. What better way to encapsulate what survivors go through than that name?”
Mowry, 24 and Orndorff, 25, first became interested in charity work while attending Virginia Tech. “We were sisters of Zeta Tau Alpha, whose philanthropy is the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation,” Mowry said. “It was only natural that we wanted to participate in Avon?s cause.”
But in order to walk the 39.2 miles of the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer, participants are required to raise at least $1,800. Mowry, who participates in several other fundraising walks, wanted to join the race but worried about how to raise the money.
“I had done the Alzheimer?s walk not too long ago, so I had already pulled my resources with friends and family,” Mowry said. “I knew I would have to hold some kind of benefit.”
That?s when Jessica Newman stepped in. Friends with Mowry since high school, she decided to help the girls raise the money.
Things came together perfectly. All three girls liked the idea of a concert to raise money. “I?ve always thought about how cool it would be if I could make something like a benefit concert happen, but I never had a good cause,” Newman said. “When Brooke came to me, freaking out about how to raise the money, that?s when I got my cause.”
Regulars at the 8×10 in Federal Hill, the girls decided that would be the place to hold the concert. They contacted local bands Can?t Hang, The Jon Bailey Band and Shook, which all agreed to play the concert for free. They named it “Boobs, Bands and Beers,” and using grassroots marketing techniques ? posting on MySpace, handing out flyers, writing e-mail blasts ? the girls are hoping for the best on March 31.
Mowry and Orndorff are adamant about supporting breast cancer research, even though neither has been personally affected by cancer. “We?re lucky. But we?ve seen family members of friends affected by it,” Mowry said. “We?ve walked before in the Susan G. Komen race, and just seeing the community of survivors and supporters is amazing. We just want to be tied to the cause.”
IF YOU GO
Boobs, Bands and Beers: Concert for a Cure
WHERE: The 8×10, 10 E. Cross St., Baltimore
WHEN: 6 p.m. Monday, March 31
TICKETS: $12*
INFO: 410-625-2000
*All proceeds benefit the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer
