Wacoal is celebrating 30 years as a business and 15 years of raising awareness and making donations to cancer research through Fit for the Cure.

Wacoal teams up with Belk with the goal to end breast cancer.

“It’s a great way to give back to the community and help fund all the different things the Susan G. Komen Foundation does,” said Ricky Smith, Vicksburg Belk store manager.

Fit for the Cure is a biannual bra-fitting event where both Wacoal and Belk donate $2 each for every woman who gets fitted. An additional $2 is donated by Wacoal for every bra purchased during the event.

“In Vicksburg [Thursday], anyone that gets fitted earns a $4 donation to the local Central Mississippi Susan G. Komen chapter,” said Jacque Faulkner, Wacoal sales consultant.

During the past 15 years, Wacoal has fitted more than 700,000 women in 411 cities, and the company has donated more than $4 million to raise awareness and support treatment and research, Faulkner said.

The event will be today from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m. at Belk in Vicksburg and Meridian. Other fitting events will be held in Hattiesburg Wednesday, Sept. 23, Flowood Thursday, Sept. 24, and Ridgeland Friday, Sept. 25.

Wacoal recommends women get fitted for a bra every six to 12 months or every time their weight changes by five to 10 pounds.

“I like to say it’s an uplifting event to come and have your bra fitting done and then knowing that you’re paying it forward, by doing so, because you’re earning donations paid out by Wacoal and Belk to help defer cost of breast health and breast health research,” Faulkner said.

She said eight out of 10 women wear the wrong bra size. By getting fitted women learn the correct band and cup size as well as the best style bra for them. The Wacoal brand offers eight different styles women can try including the top five selling bras in America from C or D to a G cup and a 30 to a 38 or 40 band.

“Whether they purchase or not, we’re still, based off the fitting, going to donate. Belk is going to make their donation and Wacoal is going to make their donation,” Smith said.

“Whether somebody wants to buy a bra or not, they can come by and get fitted and at least help raise money for Susan G. Komen.”

For the fifteenth anniversary of Fit for the Cure, Wacoal came up with another way to donate to the cause. They will donate an extra $1 for every woman who takes a picture with a special “I Got Fit” sign after their fitting and posts it to social media using the hashtag #IGotFit. Faulkner said it’s a good idea to tag @Belk and @Wacoal too.

“We don’t want any [pictures of] ladies in their bras! We want them to put their clothes back on, put their blouse or their dress back on, and take the photo with the bra,” Faulkner said.

Belk will give women a travel spa beauty system with an $80 Wacoal purchase while supplies last.

Another project going on is Pink is our Passion a dollar donation at Belk Oct. 31 to help fund the mobile mammography bus that travels the country and visited Vicksburg just a month ago.

For more information, visit wacoal-america.com or belk.com.