Look at this fabulous photo that I found while researching cameras yesterday. It’s a wonderful example of a woman who combines two passions:  photography and rescue cats.  Lori Grunin reviews cameras for CNet and has been a photographer for 40 years, but “the stat she’s proudest of is the approximately 5,000 photos she’s taken of cats (and some dogs) for the animal rescue where she volunteers”.

Many times after I tell  someone about what I do, they exclaim, “You should partner with a breast cancer organization!”  Logically, it would be a perfect fit because of my focus on women’s breasts, but emotionally, I’m more passionate about two other causes:

  1. putting properly-fitting bras on D+ tweens and teens whose parents either (a) can’t afford them or (b) don’t realize that proper support for their daughters’ breasts will cost them more than $15 and require more than one type of bra; and
  2. clothing D+ women on a limited budget who are just entering the workforce.

It makes sense, doesn’t it?  My own sister is the reason I never suffered from Bouncing Quadraboob in high school, and because of her, my parents gave me money for three new bras a year that cost $45 each (a great price for a D+ bra today, but in the Eighties it seemed like a fortune).  As for clothing for women who are entering the workforce, the connection to Campbell & Kate is obvious:  I’ve created a classic white shirt for D+ women who want to look sharp and professional, and I want every woman who needs one to be able to wear one!

So I have two dreams:

  1. to start a foundation that (a) pairs adult full-breasted women as mentors to full-breasted tweens and teens; and (b) raises money to help D+ girls from low-income families be able to purchase the right bras; and
  2. to be able to donate Campbell & Kate shirts to organizations like Dress for Success and Bottomless Closet.

Having just written this, I’m jumping out of my skin to get started on Dream #1, although I have to be careful because I’m so easily distracted from Campbell & Kate.  Does anyone know of such an organization that already exists?  And if not, does anyone want to help me start one?

I’ve been thinking of both of these causes for a few years now, but it was last week’s Blogging for a Cause panel that got me thinking about how to use Hourglassy to help others.  I can’t donate bucket-loads of money to all the non-profits that tug at my heartstrings right now, but I can donate some of my blog to share the message of causes that are near and dear to your and my hearts.

Here’s how I’m thinking of doing it:

  1. Together with Hourglassy readers, create a list of non-profits that empower girls and/or women in the area of body image.  This complements Hourglassy‘s main goal to affirm our hourglass shapes, and Campbell & Kate’s goal to provide clothing that gives an air of authority to the full-busted woman who is often stuck between being pigeonholed as maternal or stereotyped as sexy.
  2. Devise a vetting process to narrow the list. One of my main criteria would be a willingness on the part of the non-profit to build a relationship with us over a period of at least a year and to provide story-like material vs a regurgitation of facts and figures.
  3. Choose my favorite non-profit from the list and have you vote for your  favorite, so that Hourglassy essentially “adopts” two non-profits.
  4. Publish one post a month about each of the chosen non-profits.  It can be written by me, you or someone from the non-profit.  Perhaps have periodic fundraisers and contests.

So what do you think????  If you’re another blogger reading this, and you want to do something similar, we can find ways to help each other amplify the messages of our chosen causes.  There are so many possibilities!