“Walk for Bust!”
“You don’t scare me: I’m a cancer survivor”
“New and Improved: Now Cancer Free”

You’ve seen the catchy slogans dot the street whenever tens of thousands of women march to raise awareness for breast cancer. It’s hard to miss the messages from survivors and supporters. Even if a woman is wearing her shirt while shopping alone at the grocery store, that t-shirt sends a message to all shoppers to do their part to help. That could mean participating in a local event, making a donation or a reminder to all women to do a simple breast check.

The shirts not only raise awareness to people driving and walking by, they unite and empower participants. A transformation takes place when a patient, survivor, or caretaker puts on a t-shirt that says, “Beating Cancer, Priceless” or “Squeeze a boob: Save a life.” Some shirts make us laugh while others are provocative and feisty. They send clear messages about beating cancer, raising awareness and the camaraderie that goes with being a survivor.

The best part is that most of the money raised from the sale of Breast Cancer awareness shirts actually go toward helping patients, research for a cure and prevention education. You can buy shirts from organizations like the American Cancer Society, Relay for Life and Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. You can also sell your own designs to make money for local and family organizations or to send a pool of cash to the big national groups in the name of your friends and family.

There are a lot of resources to buy t-shirts online. It’s typically easy and inexpensive to create and buy t-shirts over the internet. And, you can do the designing and shopping from the comfort of your own home. You can choose from a wide variety of shirt and ink colors, and you can customize shirts for your walking team or family by putting team names on the back. You can also create your own design decked with the face of your survivor. This allows you to get the exact t-shirt you want. And of course, the end result is quite professional, and will be something that you are proud to wear day in and day out.

With most online design sites it’s easy. You pick your t-shirt color, add text, pictures, and names. You can choose from ideas and ready-made art and slogans or use your own. Choose different styles and sleeve lengths. Then, get a quote. In some cases there is a minimum order. But, usually, the more t-shirts you buy, the better the discount. It typically takes about two weeks for your shirts to arrive.

For one group, the t-shirts started as support, turned into a fund raiser and then into an empowering memorial as they continued to raise money for cancer. Here’s what Ellen B. said about their custom t-shirts, “We originally made T-shits as a support to our hero and friend Sara who battled breast cancer twice. After so much interest we upped the order and developed a fund raiser for her and her family. We sold over 100 shirts and provided the family a means to help pay for medical expenses. We wore our shirts during the Relay for Life event. Sara came to cheer us on. We took a team photo and now it’s on this year’s team t-shirts. Sara died this year. But, we honor her and wear her memory as walk this year. We are very proud to have known her and what it means to give support to a family who is in need. The T-shirts were and still are a voice in her honor.”