Month Long Lift Up the Ladies Bra Drive With Jules’ Bistro to Benefit Anna Marie’s Alliance

(KNSI) — After COVID-19 put the kibosh on it for the last two years, Jules’ Bistro is bringing back the Lift Up the Ladies bra drive for Anna Marie’s Alliance.

When she bought the place in 2017, Jules’ Bistro owner Donella Westphal asked her management team to choose a charity in St. Cloud they wanted to impact in really meaningful ways, and they chose Anna Marie’s Alliance. Westphal says she asked the staff how the bistro could help, and one of their biggest needs was for undergarments. She says that the women who come to Anna Marie’s often come with very few belongings, and frequently, “everyone else is the priority instead of them. And so, a bra is a necessary undergarment that has the power to make women feel confident, secure, beautiful. And so we decided that we were going to do what we could to collect as many bras as possible.”

In 2019, the bistro started Lift Up the Ladies bra drive for the women at Anna Marie’s, and she says, “It was amazing.” There were over 1,100 brand new bras collected for women at the shelter. “The attendance was phenomenal,” Westphal said, adding, “It was probably one of the most inspiring, overwhelming things I have done in the time that I have owned Jules’. People just showed up for these events. And they showed up with bags of bras. They didn’t just come with one bra, they came with Victoria’s Secret bags filled with really beautiful undergarments.”

For the month of March, which is National Womens’ History Month, mannequins will be set up around the bistro, and people can bring in bras at any time during regular business hours and an add them to the mannequin, but there are five special nights once a week where donors get a little something, too.

Westphal says on Thursdays, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., customers who bring in at least one brand new bra, “you can eat and drink that evening for free. So we have really generous sponsors, including Bernick’s who provide the food and the beverage. And it’s all free to you as long as you bring at least one brand new bra.”

The campaign returned in 2020, but it was shut down after one day due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was also canceled last year, but Westphal explained that she spoke with the staff at Anna Marie’s, and they explained they were running low on sizes, so the campaign is very timely, and the need is greater than it has been in the last three years.

Westphal says as a goal-oriented person; she would love to beat the record of 1,100 bras.

Jules’ Bistro is open Tuesdays through Saturdays 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., and it’s located at 921 West St. Germain Street downtown St. Cloud, kitty-corner from Falcon National Bank, and next door to the Paramount Theater for the Arts.

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KNSI News Reporter Jake Judd contributed to this story.

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