Pink nail polish purchases at Birmingham's Color Box help fund breast cancer research

BIRMINGHAM, Mich. - The color pink never looked so good and a Birmingham nail salon is helping spread it as far as it can.

But pink isn't just pretty at the Color Box Luxury Nail & Beauty Bar, located on Cole Street. It's also part of a larger push to raise money for breast cancer treatment.

Like most other fundraising efforts in 2020, the coronavirus has thrown Breast Cancer awareness month into uncertainty. That's why Kendra Geralt at the Color Box is changing the rules this year.

"(It's) a new hygienic nail bar where you can come and receive services on a hospital-grade level so even if you were immune-compromised or were undergoing recovering from chemo-treatments, this would be a welcome place for you," she said.

And waiting for any patrons is a beautiful array of pink nail polish to be applied. For every application used, proceeds from the purchase will find their way to the U Can-Cer-Vive Foundation.

"Because of the current situation, no one is getting together and having events," she said. "Nothing really seemed to make sense in these times so I said 'let's do a 31-day event. Let's give a proceed of anybody who comes in and gets any shade of pink, let's give those proceeds to the foundation for 31 days.'"

"We have to be able to make a dent in something."

Waiting on the other side of that revenue stream is Nicole Welch, who has lots of needs for any donated money.

"Every single year, the doctors from major hospitals here in Michigan come and present to the committee and the board," said Nicole Welch, of the Foundation. "They're going over different research grants, different things that are obviously saving lives. We then vote on it and that money we raise all year round goes directly into that."

U Can-Cer-Vive was founded in 2016 by Ryan and Kelley Lafontaine. Since then, they've raised $2.5 million for cancer research to help make life a little better for those living with the disease. 

Pink nail polish from the Color Box nail salon in Birmingham

In 2020, they're leaning heavily on donations to help them continue their work. Now, thanks to Geralt, anyone looking for a Mani or Pedi can help, too.

"We're really very blessed that Color Box is doing this because we depend on partnerships like this to be able to raise money for these grants that we've already committed to for these doctors," said Welch. "It's the best place, I tell everyone 'it's a hidden gem, it's amazing." 

If you'd like to take part in the Color Box Any Shade of Pink fundraiser, download the app or call ahead and make an appointment.