Carson City’s Rice Street Tattoo to hold fundraiser Friday for local fighting breast cancer
Submitted by Kelsey Penrose on Thu, 10/12/2023 - 7:42am
Event Date:
October 13, 2023 - 11:00am
Carson City’s Rice Street Tattoo will be hosting a fundraiser at their shop this Friday, Oct. 13 to help Gardnerville resident Shannon Brown in her fight against breast cancer.
Only a few months ago, Brown was living life as normal when she found a small lump, about the size of a dime, in her left breast.
Because she did not have health insurance, Brown pushed off seeking treatment and hoped the small lump would resolve itself.
However, she soon began experiencing pain in her shoulder and lower back. Brown works as a dental hygienist and spoke with a client who has been in remission from breast cancer for five years. When Brown told her what she was experiencing, the client told her she should get checked right away, which gave Brown the final push.
She went to urgent care who scheduled her a mammogram and ultrasound two weeks later. When she finally did receive her tests, doctors came back with some unfortunate news: she had not one, but two tumors within her left breast, and she would need to begin treatment soon, and should get on health insurance that day.
“Financially, that just wasn’t an option for me,” Brown said
She underwent a biopsy and after another two weeks passed, she learned that the tumors had grown a startling two centimeters in only those two weeks, and doctors said she would need an immediate mastectomy.
“Everything happened so quickly, I’m still trying to cope with it,” Brown said.
She underwent a mastectomy and began chemo treatments soon after. All of which she has had to pay for out of pocket.
“Each consult was $500, and my mastectomy alone was $25,000,” Brown said.
She’s been paying out of pocket and utilizing funds from a GoFundMe set up for her, but bills have continued to come in.
That’s why Lezlee Robinson of Rice Street Tattoo decided to step in to help.
In the tattoo community, Friday the 13th is practically a holiday, in which a number of “flash” or pre-drawn tattoos are done at a discount or, in some instances, even for free.
To celebrate this Friday the 13th, Rice Street Tattoo instead will host a fundraiser for Brown to support her battle with breast cancer.
While tattoos will be done throughout the day, there are many ways for the community to help out, including through a raffle, gift card purchases, pizza purchases, or simple donations.
Many local business have stepped up to help by donating raffle prizes.
“Our local businesses have been incredible,” Robinson said. “We've received generous donations from Shoetree, Cipriani's Barbershop, Vital Signs, Lone Mountain Vet, Pourhouse, and many more.”
All raffle ticket sales will go directly to Brown, and the shop will be donating a percentage of all tattoos and merchandise that day to the fund as well.
Raffle tickets are $5 each.
For more information, follow them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ricestreettattoo
Rice Street Tattoo is located at 113 Rice Street in Carson City. The fundraiser will take place between 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
