Bra-vo!

Breast cancer runs in the Miller family. Kay Miller lost her mother, Nelda Cohen, to breast cancer in 2000.

Cohen was diagnosed in 1996 and had a single mastectomy followed by chemotherapy. She went almost five years, then was again diagnosed in 1999. She died seven months later.

Kay Miller’s two sisters have also battled the disease and so far have beat it. One sister had a double mastectomy and chemotherapy and she has been cancer free for about 14 years, Miller said.

Her other sister has been cancer-free for 16 years, after having a lumpectomy and radiation treatment, the Arcadia resident said.

“We are all vigilant at keeping up with mammograms,” she said. “We have also participated in further testing for studies. They are trying to link breast cancer to a family gene. At this point, we don’t have the gene.”

To remember her mother, Kay Miller and her daughter, Heather Miller, director of marketing for Countrywide Home Loans in Glendale, have designed a bra for Soroptimist International of Glendale’s third annual Bras for a Cause. The fundraiser features a live auction of decorated bras, along with a silent auction, opportunity prizes, food and music.

The committee has secured more than 100 silent auction items for the event, thanks to a very supportive community, said Lou Rhodes, president of Soroptimist International of Glendale.

“It’s something the city has embraced for a fun time, for a good cause,” she said.

Even men compete in designing bras, she said.

“It is amazing to see all the innovative ideas again this year,” she said. “No two bras are the same.”

While several entries are bras that are decorated in interesting and colorful ways, some entries are more elaborate, such as one created by a group from the Red Hat Society.

“They have a mannequin they have dressed up,” she said.

All the entries are different, she said.

“Some are fun and some are beautiful,” she said.

This is the Millers’ first time entering the competition. For their design, they have applied white Lifesavers candies with hot glue onto a pink bra and placed a costume jewelry pearl inside each Lifesaver, Kay Miller said.

“Making this together we had such a great time,” Kay Miller said. “My mom would have been so excited to see what we were doing. It helps me feel like I’m closer to her somehow. The bra was so fun to do.”

The titled of their entry is “Pretty in Pink and Pearls Saving a Life.”

“I hope it does something for someone to save someone else’s mother daughter or grandmother,” she said.

“My mother was my closest and dearest friend. I saw her almost every day. Her loss was so monumental. When you lose a mother, you lose part of who you are, so it was tough.”

Making the entry with her mother was a fun way to honor her grandmother, Heather Miller said.

“I think doing any activity in remembrance is a way to keep them in your life,” she said.

FYI

WHAT: Bras for a Cause

WHO: Soroptimist International of Glendale

WHEN: 6 p.m. Friday

WHERE: Oakmont Country Club, 3100 Country Club Drive, Glendale

COST: $50

BENEFITS: Breast cancer services at Glendale Adventist Medical Center, Verdugo Hills Hospital, Glendale Memorial Hospital and other Glendale charities that improve the lives of women and children