Jill Conley helps launch lingerie for cancer survivors – The Courier
May 20, 2014 by admin
Filed under Lingerie Events
Jill Conley and Dana Donofree have a common mission — to restore confidence to other young breast cancer survivors like themselves, and remind every woman that she is beautiful.
On Saturday, they met in Philadelphia to help launch Donofree’s new company, Ana Ono Intimates, which sells lingerie for women who have undergone cancer treatment.
The “soft launch” party attracted more than 150 people, mostly patients, survivors and their families and friends. Donofree premiered a video (see above) starring Conley, whose journey with incurable breast and bone cancer I am chronicling for The Courier-Journal.
The YouTube video which shows a breast cancer patient growing ever-more-frustrated with her selection of bras and finally breaking a bureau drawer on her bedroom floor. But when she sees other survivors wearing Donofree’s bras, she realizes she is not alone.
“She’s defining her new normal. She’s in search of women who have gone through what she’s gone through,” Donofree said of the video, adding that “Jill was stunning and amazing as usual,” in the video and in person at the event.
The party also featured a photo installation spotlighting breast cancer survivors (including Conley) and a raffle of beauty-centered items and services such as manicures and baskets of beauty products. The raffle raised about $2,000 for Conley’s charity, Jill’s Wish, which helps defray expenses for families facing cancer.
Donofree also plans to contribute 10 percent of each sale to the charity. Ana Ono’s online shopping site features bras fitting “women of all shapes, sizes, and circumstances: from lumpectomy to mastectomy, unilateral to bilateral, flap surgery to implant reconstruction.”
Donofree said she first saw Conley during one of her appearances on the Today Show, and wrote her a letter. When they talked, they realized how much they had in common and decided to join forces.
“We’re so focused on restoring confidence for women who have gone through this,” Donofree said.
