As Breast Cancer Awareness Month continues throughout October, Beaches residents should consider stopping by In the Pink.
A one-stop boutique and nonprofit organization with locations in Jacksonville Beach, Jacksonville and Sarasota, In the Pink is dedicated to helping women heal and cope with the physical and emotional effects of cancer.
In the Pink owner and founder Jeri Millard said her stores offer wigs, mastectomy products, post-surgical garments, compression garments, hats, scarves, yoga radiation cream and more.
"We even have a product that can be used so that (cancer patients) don't lose their eyelashes and eyebrows," she said. "We have everything under one roof so that they don’t have to go to a whole lot of places."
In the Pink also offers free yoga for cancer patients and a salon for free head shaving and wig fitting. Millard, who is a breast cancer survivor herself, explained that a portion of the products provided at her stores are covered by insurance.
"We file the claims for them and any revenue that is generated from anything that's sold in here or provided through insurance stays in Jacksonville," she said. "When people come in that have a Medicaid card or come to us from a foundation as a referral, then they receive the items they need for free."
Millard noticed a shortage of information during her cancer battle, she added, which was the catalyst for her to found the In the Pink nonprofit. The Jacksonville resident revealed that the products she needed weren’t accessible and she would have to travel across the city to multiple locations to purchase them.
"I'm still amazed to this day that there's so many people who don't know about some of the items that are available," she said. "I'm really surprised that physicians don't tell them."
Regarding revenue, Millard noted that In the Pink is “an expensive place to run," but thousands of clients and numerous events have made it possible.
"We have people put on events for us all the time," she said. "A lot of times people are coming to us and saying, 'I'd really like to help raise money for you because you took care of my sister or my aunt or my mom or somebody,' and so they want to give back knowing that we're actually helping people in the community."
Founded in 2009, In the Pink’s mission is to offer cancer patients the products they need all under one roof, educate people and alleviate fear as they endure cancer treatment. The 501c3 nonprofit is located at 1727 Fruitville Road in Sarasota, 522 3rd St. N. in Jacksonville Beach and 3547 Hendricks Ave. in Jacksonville. For more information, visit www.jaxinthepink.com.
