In the small Connecticut town of East Windsor, a pizza shop owner named Bob Miner has turned grief into generosity — channeling the memory of a friend lost to breast cancer into a campaign that seeks not merely to raise awareness, but to pay someone's rent. It is a quiet reminder that community care often begins not in institutions, but in the hands of individuals who have known loss and chosen to act.
Pizza Shop Owner Launches Breast Cancer Awareness T-Shirt Campaign
The campaign was prompted by the death of Sue Janssen from breast cancer four years prior, and aims to support families affected by the disease.
I want those people that need money for rent
Mark
So he's been running the pizza shop for six months when he decides to do this. What made him move on it right then?
Mimi
Sue Janssen died four years before. That's not a fresh wound, but it's the kind of loss that doesn't leave you. When October came around, he had the shop, he had customers, and he had a reason. It all lined up.
Luke
Do we know if he'd been planning this since he opened, or did it come to him in September?
Mimi
The piece doesn't say. We know he opened in April and launched this in October, so there was time between the two.
Mark
And the money goes where, exactly?
Mimi
To local families affected by cancer. He's being specific about that—not to an organization, but to families who need help with rent and basic expenses.
Luke
Does the piece say which families, or how he's choosing them?
Mimi
No. It says "an area family or families," but there's no detail about the selection process or whether he'd already identified them.
Mark
What's the design actually trying to do?
Mimi
It's a walking advertisement. The shirt itself is supposed to be something people want to wear, not just a charity item. The pink ribbon is there, the message is there, but it's designed to look good first.
Luke
And the 700-shirt goal—is that realistic, or is that hope?
Mimi
It's what he's aiming for. He ordered 250 to start, so he's betting he can move nearly three times that by month's end.
Mark
That's ambitious for a new shop.
Mimi
It is. But he's got foot traffic, and it's a cause people care about.
El Pulso
- Four years after losing his friend Sue Janssen to breast cancer, Bob Miner found himself with a shop, a customer base, and an unresolved need to do something meaningful with both.
- Starting October 1st, Broad Brook Pizza began selling $20 black T-shirts — the word 'Pizza' punctuated by a pink ribbon — with every dollar of profit earmarked for local families affected by cancer.
- Miner ordered 250 shirts to start but set his sights on 700, driven by the hope that strong sales could help multiple families, not just one.
- His frustration with large cancer organizations — where donated money doesn't always reach those who need it — pushed him toward a direct, local model: cash in hand for families struggling with rent and basic expenses.
- The campaign is as much about wearable conviction as charity — Miner wanted a shirt people would choose for its message, not just its logo.
In the small Connecticut town of East Windsor, a pizza shop owner named Bob Miner has turned grief into generosity — channeling the memory of a friend lost to breast cancer into a campaign that seeks not merely to raise awareness, but to pay someone's rent. It is a quiet reminder that community care often begins not in institutions, but in the hands of individuals who have known loss and chosen to act.
When Bob Miner opened Broad Brook Pizza in April, he already knew what he wanted to do when October came. Four years earlier, he had lost a longtime friend, Sue Janssen, to breast cancer. That grief had not faded — it had quietly shaped a plan.
Beginning October 1st, Miner started selling custom T-shirts from his shop on Main Street in East Windsor, Connecticut. The shirts were black, bearing the shop's name in pink — with the 'I' in 'Pizza' replaced by a pink ribbon. The back carried the message 'Big or small, save them all.' Each shirt cost twenty dollars, and every dollar of profit would go directly to local families affected by cancer.
Miner had ordered 250 shirts to start, but his goal was 700 by month's end. The design came from a small Enfield clothing producer, chosen with care — Miner wanted something people would wear because they believed in the message, not just because it carried a logo.
What set his effort apart, in his own mind, was its directness. He wasn't interested in funneling money through large organizations. He wanted it to reach people struggling to pay rent. 'I want to make a difference,' he said simply. His shop had given him a community. He intended to use it.
Bob Miner opened Broad Brook Pizza in April, and by the time October rolled around, he had already decided what he wanted to do with the platform the shop had given him. Four years earlier, a longtime friend named Sue Janssen had died of breast cancer. That loss stayed with him. When October arrived—Breast Cancer Awareness Month—Miner was ready.
Starting Friday, October 1st, he would sell custom-made T-shirts from his shop at 147 Main Street in the Broad Brook section of East Windsor, Connecticut. Every dollar of profit would go directly to local families affected by cancer. The shirts themselves were designed with intention. They were black, with the shop's name printed in pink lettering across the front. But there was a detail: the "I" in "Pizza" was replaced with a pink ribbon, the recognized symbol of breast cancer awareness. On the back, a larger pink ribbon carried the message "Big or small, save them all." The price was twenty dollars.
Miner had ordered 250 shirts initially, but his ambition extended further. He wanted to sell 700 by the end of the month. "Maybe we'll sell so many that we'll be able to do multiple families," he said. The design came from All The Way Clothing, a small producer on Pearl Street in Enfield. Miner had been deliberate about what he wanted the shirt to communicate. "I wanted something where somebody looks at the shirt and they go, 'Hey, man, this is a cool shirt, I'm going to wear this,'" he explained. "Not because of the logo, but because of the message."
What mattered to him was not just the awareness part—there were already organizations doing that work. What he wanted was to put money directly into the hands of people who needed it. "There's several different breast cancer things out there, but not all the money goes to them," he said. "I want to make a difference. I want those people that need money for rent." He had a customer base now, a steady flow of people coming through his door. He saw it as an opportunity to turn that traffic into something concrete for families in his community who were struggling.
Citas Notables
I have a great audience, a great customer base, and I think I can make a difference for somebody. So we're going to sell some shirts, twenty dollars a shirt, and whatever profit we get will be given to a local family.— Bob Miner, Broad Brook Pizza owner
I want something where somebody looks at the shirt and they go, 'Hey, man, this is a cool shirt, I'm going to wear this.' Not because of the logo, but because of the message.— Bob Miner on the shirt design
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