New fashion helps good cause

Move over Ugg boots and trucker hats, there is a new fashion must-have hitting campus -- a little yellow bracelet engraved with the word "LIVESTRONG."\nThe Lance Armstrong Foundation began producing yellow plastic bracelets during the middle of May in efforts to raise $6 million dollars. LAF provides information and support for people living with cancer. Now, with more than 10 million sold, the bracelets are nearly impossible to find. \nFoot Locker in College Mall received its first shipment of 50 bracelets during the Tour de France, said store Manager Tarik Purifoy. Within three days, those bracelets were gone, and when the next shipment of 100 came in, those sold out in two days. \n"There was little buzz in the beginning," Purifoy said. "But they are a lot more popular now. I think it has a lot to do with the cheap price, since they are only a dollar and it's going to a good cause."\nFoot Locker is still sold out and does not expect to receive anymore bracelets. Finish Line is no different from Foot Locker also sold out. Rob Clark, manager of Finish Line, said the most bracelets a person bought at one time was 75.\n"We got the first shipment of 300 right before the race started," Clark said. "Probably three days after the race started, we were sold out. They became more popular once we sold out. About one out of every two people that come in the store asks for them."\nAdam Haire, a graduate student from Louisville, Ky., began cycling in March and has since ridden from Bloomington to Champaign, Ill. When the Tour de France began, Haire watched it often and decided he wanted to support Armstrong and LAF, he said. He went to eight different places around town looking for the bracelets but returned home every time empty-handed, he said. \n"I just ride for fun and exercise," Haire said. "I wanted one of the bracelets since I began cycling to support Lance and I really got into watching the Tour." \nSome people are skeptical, however, as to whether people wear the bracelets to support the LAF and cancer patients or because everyone from actor Ben Stiller to presidential candidate John Kerry wears one. Brian Titzer, owner of Bloomington Cyclery, believes people wear them for a mixture of reasons. \n"A lot of people have come in to buy one because they had friends and family with cancer," Titzer said. "They want to support them. But I am sure there are some people that wear them because everyone else does. For the most part though, I think it's easy to give back for something that's pretty cool."\nBrandy Tolley, a junior from Sheridan, Ind., has had numerous family members who have been diagnosed with cancer. Her grandmother is a survivor of breast cancer and has been in remission for a year, she said. \n"If you know people who have had cancer, you know that the money goes to a good cause," Tolley said. "There are people who are in remission. It makes you feel good to help those people out."\n-- Contact staff writer Maggie Bozich at mbozich@indiana.edu.