By David Taylor
Managing Editor
Tucked between the professional rodeo events and the final concert at the Crosby Fair and Rodeo last Saturday night was another celebration that Crosby is still in the fight against cancer.
President Beth King and members of Bras For A Cause presented checks to local organizations who continue to fight against cancer in the Crosby area community to the tune of $120,000.
“To date, in 14 years we have donated approximately $1.9 million to these organizations and will continue to do so,” King said.
Checks were presented to Houston Methodist Baytown Hospital for $75,000, Houston Candlelighter’s in the amount of $75,000, and Joseph’s Warriors for $5,000 at the rodeo.
“The Breast Care and Lung Care Centers at Methodist have funds that share the money,” she said. “ We made around $147,000 at our fundraising event back in February.”
King said the organization keeps some money back in the event there are other needs or organizations throughout the year that need help.
“We’ve already given out about $10,000 this year alone,” she said. “Some of those funds were left over from last year.”
The fundraising for cancer began in 2006 with the final night of the rodeo being designated as Tough Enough To Wear Pink night.
“They would sell pink t-shirts and other memorabilia to raise money,” King said.
In 2014, they shifted gears and started the Bras For A Cause event.
“Shirley Rogers came up with the idea of the guys wearing the bras and raising the money and that’s primarily where we get our money now,” she said.
The raucous event in February features models or celebrities from the community who wear unique bras, most created with a theme. Some dressed as cowboys, sailor, Santa Claus, Hello Kitty, Trump, cherries and whipped cream and many more hilarious ideas that spur the crowd into bill stuffing and raising bids to big numbers.
“We could not do it without those 20 brave men from the community and around Texas who are willing to come out and help us raise the money,” King said.
Despite all the cat calls and fun, King said many of the models return every year to participate.
“The Schexnayder boys, Teaque and Jacob, I think have been with us since the beginning and it was great to have our school board president J.R. Humphries out this year,” she said. Many of the crowd favorites Quentin Klaus, Adam Notgrass, Jeremy Strang, Chris Baird, and Santa Claus James Blaha she hopes will be back next year.
She also emphasized the support from the community is off the chain.
“Crosby always turns out to support us,” she said. “We have people who come from other areas, but our biggest support is from Crosby. They’ve been supporting us for years and we appreciate it.”
She pointed out those same folks come out for the Crosby Education Foundation, Crosby Fair & Rodeo, and other events throughout the year.
“We have a great community with great support,” she added.
To make donations during the year, King suggested going to their Facebook page at Crosby Bras For A Cause and send her a message.