The women’s nonprofit Soroptimist of Powell wanted to help raise a little more awareness for breast cancer this month, so they hung bras and a banner right on the edge of downtown.

Last Friday the members of the group hung a banner and a string of bras at the front of Hunter Clean Care, which will stay up through the end of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, to remind women to check themselves.

“Soroptimist in Riverton does it on a bridge,” President Amy Wells said. “So we thought, ‘wouldn’t it be fun to shock some people, make them turn heads, and get them to book their appointments?’

Now people driving on Coulter Avenue or going into downtown can’t miss the message.

Wells is also the executive director of the Powell Hospital Foundation. This year’s breast cancer awareness campaigns have been successful, as unlike last year all of the hospital’s free breast cancer check slots filled up.

Wells notes that women who missed that opportunity can still schedule a breast exam anytime.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women but, thanks in part due to the proliferation of awareness campaigns, has a greater five year survivability rate than most cancers as many women are able to catch it early enough for effective treatments to work.

The awareness campaigns stress regular checks to make early detection more likely.

“This is the first year we’ve done this,” Wells said. “We’re just always trying to think of fun new ways to get people’s attention. We do fundraisers throughout the year, but this is more of an awareness campaign.”