October is fast approaching, and Vicksburg is already preparing to honor Breast Cancer Awareness Month with fundraiser Bras for Breast Cancer.

For six weeks, from Wednesday, Sept. 16 to Wednesday, Oct. 28, Riverwalk and other local businesses will collect bras. For each bra collected, Riverwalk will donate a dollar to the American Cancer Society up to $25,000.

“We would love 25,000 bras,” Riverwalk marketing manager Mary Hudson said.

This is the seventh year Riverwalk has collected bras, but the event’s finale has changed a little bit over the past few years. The collection effort was highly known for stringing the bras across the Mississippi River Bridge, but it is no longer an option.

“Two years ago, we changed the culminating event. We use to string them across the bridge here. For various reasons, safety reasons, liability, we decided we’d team up with the American Cancer Society and the Making Strides Walk,” said Chris Williams, senior director of marketing at Riverwalk.

Now the bras will be strung down the hill leading to Riverwalk on the hotel and casino’s birthday, Oct. 28. A few days later, Oct. 31, the bras will be hung in Jackson at the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk, a noncompetitive 5K walk benefitting the American Cancer Society in their quest to fight against breast cancer.

The collection of bras is starting early this year with Vicksburg getting a two-week jump-start on Jackson in their collecting efforts. Bra drop off locations are Riverwalk, Dillards and Atwood Chevrolet to name a few, and the closer it gets to Oct. 28, the more places will start accepting donations.

“Come Oct. 1, there will be another round of collection points, mostly in Jackson, coming on,” Williams said.

iHeartMedia radio stations will be one of the locations that eventually start collecting and stringing bras.

“Every bra gets used in one way, shape or form,” said Michelle Hill, senior market manager for the American Cancer Society in Jackson.

New bras will be donated to women who need them and used bras are donated to organizations across Mississippi.

“It’s a really great opportunity to recycle your bras,” Hill said. “They will be used.”

She said people should not underestimate the value of a dollar. It may sound like a small donation, but she said it has a huge impact.

“The impact that is being made by the donations is incredible. It’s really going to fund breast cancer research, to fun programs like Road to Recovery,” Hill said. “Every bra that’s collected, every dollar that’s given, is making a real difference in the lives of women who are fighting breast cancer and men.”

In October, pink long sleeve T-shirts will be sold for $20 at the Riverwalk gift shop. All the proceeds go towards Riverwalk’s $25,000 donation to the American Cancer Society. Last year they sold out.

“We have so much support already from Vicksburg and we just, at the American Cancer Society, we want to invite the community of Vicksburg to join us on Oct. 31 and to walk with us and celebrate and to fight back against breast cancer,” Hill said.

On the day of the walk, Riverwalk will have giveaways at its tent including koozies, scarves, bracelets and water. Last year over 8,000 total people joined in the walk.

“In the past, we’d string it across the bridge, but very few people could really see it. When we string them along this route, 8,000 people are going to see it,” Williams said.

Even though the bra-stringing event isn’t in Vicksburg anymore, they want to show a strong Vicksburg presence in Jackson.

“We haven’t abandoned Vicksburg, we’ve just partnered with a bigger buddy,” Williams said. “That walk experience with all those people is amazing.”

Riverwalk has their own team of people who participate in the 9 a.m. walk and they want their team to grow. They are inviting the entire Vicksburg community to join them.

“We really want the community to signup under our Riverwalk team and walk with us,” Hudson said.

For more information, visit makingstrideswalk.org.