The sight of furniture deliverymen pulling their truck into someone’s driveway while sporting neon pink T-shirts would probably make most people chuckle — including the guys wearing the shirts.

While it may be a lighthearted gesture, the reasons employees of Imperial Furniture are donning pink attire this month are anything but a laughing matter.

The Dowagiac furniture company recently partnered with other businesses across the area for Midwest Broadcasting’s “Real Men Wear Pink” campaign. From now through the end of October, the company’s men will wear pink T-shirts bearing the name of the campaign every Friday, in effort to help promote Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Imperial Furniture’s women employees will also be getting in on the action, wearing pink attire on Fridays.

Owners Art and Carol Springsteen said the month-long event is meant to encourage women to begin regularly screening for breast cancer — which affects more than 200,000 people in the U.S. every year — through self-exams at home or through a mammogram at the hospital.

“It’s not that bad of a process,” Carol said. “If it saves your life, you should just do it.”

Carol said that consistent examinations ensure that, if the cancer develops, it will be detected early enough in the cycle that it can be treated before it spreads — something that the business owner knows all too well from experience.

In 2013, Carol discovered what she believed was a tumor shortly before receiving a mammogram, she said. The doctor confirmed her fears after the exam, though, thanks to detecting the cancer early enough in its development cycle, she was able to get the treatment she needed to fight back.

Today, Carol is cancer free — and eager to share her experiences with other women so that, if the worse happens, they too are able to win their bouts against breast cancer.

Naturally, when she and Art learned about Midwest’s campaign, they were eager to jump onboard, Carol said.

In addition to raising awareness for the importance of annual screenings, the staff of Imperial Furniture are also looking to spend this month raising money for Cass County Cancer Services, a local nonprofit that provides financial assistance to county residents battling cancer.

Customers who donate $10 or more to the charity at the store this month will receive a 10 percent discount off any piece of furniture,

“The discount applies to anything we have in stock,” Carol said. “Does not matter if it’s $10 or $1,000.”

Customers have been quite generous their donations so far, with most donating well above the $10 minimum, Carol said.

The owners said they do not have a particular amount of money they want to raise for the charity: they just want to spread the word about the services Cass County Cancer Services provide, as well as empathize the importance of breast cancer screenings.

“If, by talking and raising awareness about cancer screenings, we can help just one more person, I’ll consider this a success,” Carol said. “That is what I care most about.”

Imperial Furniture is located at 57530 M-51 S., Dowagiac, and is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays; 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesdays; and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays.