‘Walk along you’: Breast cancer survivor opens thrift store to help patients

COVINGTON, La. (InvestigateTV) - It’s crunch time in a corner of Covington. Volunteers are hauling, painting and planning for the opening of a thrift store, but it won’t be your typical thrift store.

“How do people afford cancer if they don’t have money and resources and they don’t have a good insurance? And that’s when the idea came, open up a thrift store,” said Allyson Tomkins, a breast cancer survivor from Covington.

Allyson Tomkins is a member of the “Pink Ladies” in St. Tammany Parish. They are breast cancer survivors striving to raise awareness and help for women as they take on the challenges and questions that often come with cancer.

“You’re dealing with the fear of surgery. It’s the unknown, what you’re going to be like. Can you handle the pain? How is this going to affect your family?” said Tomkins.

Back in July 2025, Tomkins underwent a double mastectomy after being diagnosed with breast cancer. She said that experience forced her to confront mortality.

“I had already come to terms with that as a Christian, but it comes right in your face, like, oh, it could be soon,” Tomkins said.

Among the many volunteers assisting with the launch of what will simply be called “The Thrift Store” is Heather Fair. She also chose to get a double mastectomy after her breast cancer diagnosis six years ago.

“The worst part is the waiting. You’re waiting to get the results. You’re waiting to get the surgery. You don’t know what is going to come of it,” said Heather Fair of Mandeville.

Fair’s body would go through more changes with the double mastectomy.

“So, when I did that, I also did the DIEP (Deep Inferior Epigastric Perforator) flap, which takes my stomach fat and puts it up, and that becomes my new breast instead of implants. So, that surgery was done at the same time that they get the cancer out. They’re reconstructing the breast,” said Fair.

Due to the unique physical and emotional effects of breast cancer, Allyson Tomkins said she wanted to create a space providing equally unique support.

From care baskets filled with items like lotions for post-surgery scars to gently used clothing for financially impacted patients, the store’s mission will be to ease the burdens of cancer.

“A lot of these people are moms with young kids. So, they’re worried about what’s going to happen with their kids, what’s going to happen financially, are they going to be able to work? We’ve already had tons of people reach out asking for care baskets for patients already. One of them I heard was a 26-year-old she didn’t even have insurance,” Brenda DeMuth said.

Brenda DeMuth is a nurse who spent the past five years working with breast cancer patients on the North Shore. DeMuth is part of the Pink Ladies volunteer team, creating a sanctuary from a former doggy daycare center on Robinwood Lane in Covington.

With just days left before the soft opening, it’s busy. Their efforts, said Allyson Tomkins, are guided by faith. A Bible on a table will be the first thing visitors see, but belief won’t be required.

“You don’t have to be Christian. It’s not about us hammering anybody’s faith wall down, but we’re ready to pray with somebody or just talk or share. A lot of us are survivors, so we can walk along you,” said Allyson Tomkins.

“Not every woman has a care system built in. So, if they don’t, walking up to the Pink Ladies, they instantly get a support system. They instantly get that female bonding,” said Kathleen Thomas, major gifts officer with the St. Tammany Health Foundation.

“We’re all about pink right now, but we would hope that we can walk alongside people whose children are going through cancer treatment, or men who have prostate or lung or whatever the cancers are. That’s my hope,” said Allyson Tomkins.

As they spread a final layer of pink paint on a store counter, they are also spreading the importance of early detection and getting potentially life-saving mammograms.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in the United States, accounting for roughly 30% of all new female cancers each year.

But there is new hope. The likelihood of beating the disease is at a historic high.

The five-year relative survival rate for all cancers combined reached a milestone 70%, up from around 49% in the mid-1970s.

The American Cancer Society credits the decline to the reduction in smoking, improved treatment, and earlier detection.