Hardware Retailing The Industry's Source for Insights and Information
A woman-owned hardware store in Louisiana is bringing critical awareness to breast cancer screening throughout the month of October.
Melaco Sisters Hardware is running their “Raffle for a Cause” campaign through October and early November to support breast cancer screening in the store’s community of Cut Off, Louisiana. Customers can purchase $5 
tickets to enter for a chance to win a kitchen essentials prize package, including a 2-piece wooden spoon set, a paring knife and sharpener and a 13-inch oval roaster. All proceeds from the raffle benefit Lady of the Sea General Hospital’s free breast cancer screening program, helping local women gain access to life saving early detection.
Inspiration for the campaign came from a member of the Melaco Sisters Do it Best managed marketing team who was recently diagnosed and treated for breast cancer.
“This is a tribute to her survivorship and an effort to help inform other women in our community of this free program available to them,” says Michelle Melancon, advertising lead at Melaco Sisters Hardware. “Having lost our own grandmother to breast cancer many years ago and then learning about the free program for uninsured patients at our local hospital, we felt this campaign was a great opportunity to not only inform the community about the program but also help keep the program available by donating to it.”
The store has also turned its paint department pink for the month of October in honor of the campaign. Free pink
ribbons are available in-store for customers who write notes of encouragement, honoring a survivor or remembering someone lost to breast cancer.
“The community response has been amazing,” Melancon says. “Our community and customers have rallied around our raffle by sharing our post and purchasing tickets. They always show support to one another in such a big way—that’s why we love it here.”
Melaco Sisters Hardware plans to bring back this campaign for years to come, continuing to raise awareness and help women in their community.
“We have flyers from Lady of the Sea Hospital set up at our store offering additional information to the community about this program,” Melancon says. “We hope to make this an annual event to continue to educate our community about the programs available to them.”
