Avon Foundation Breast Care Fund Awards $35,000 Grant
| Contact: |
Susan Oates, Marketing/PR, DBCC Susan Heaney, Avon Foundation |
Wilmington, DE—January 12, 2010 – The Avon Foundation Breast Care Fund has awarded a $35,000 one-year grant to Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition, Inc. (DBCC) for its breast health outreach and education programs to help educate lay health advisors in the African American and Hispanic communities and increase awareness of the life-saving benefits of early detection of breast cancer. This marks the ninth year that DBCC has received Avon Foundation funding and recognition of its work on this important health issue and excellence of its programs.
DBCC’s breast health outreach and education programs reach women statewide and refer them to low-cost or free mammograms and clinical breast exams in their own communities. Clients are offered assistance in obtaining screenings, enrollment in programs which offer free or reduced cost screenings, transportation, and interpretation services. Women who receive an abnormal finding also receive follow-up diagnostic screenings and treatment.
Since 1991, the Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition, Inc. has reached thousands of women with information about the importance of early detection of breast cancer. In the past year, DBCC has facilitated more than 1200 screening mammograms and clinical breast exams.
Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women in the U.S., and the leading single cause of death overall in women between the ages of 40 and 55. According to the American Cancer Society, 600 new cases of breast cancer will be detected in Delaware this year and 120 lives will be lost. Nationwide, there is a new diagnosis every three minutes and a death from breast cancer every fourteen minutes. While advances have been made in prevention, diagnosis, treatment and cure, early detection still affords the best opportunity for successful treatment. Programs such as that of the DBCC help ensure that all women have access to early detection information and options, even poor and medically underserved women.
“We are proud that the Avon Foundation shares our mission and chooses to support our program. With these funds we will be are able to continue to educate women about the importance of early detection and provide necessary screenings and information,” says DBCC executive director Vicky Cooke.
Since 1993, the Avon Foundation has awarded more than 1,000 grants to community-based breast health programs across the United States, including the Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition, Inc. These programs are dedicated to educating underserved women about breast cancer and linking them to early detection screening services.
About the Avon Foundation and Breast Cancer Crusade
The Avon Foundation, an accredited 501(c)(3) public charity, was founded in 1955 to improve the lives of women and their families. Now past the half century milestone, the Foundation brings this mission to life through the Speak Out Against Domestic Violence program and the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade, which raises funds and awareness to advance access to care and finding a cure for breast cancer, with a focus on the medically underserved. Since 1992 the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade has raised and awarded more than $525 million worldwide for medical research; access to care; support services; screening and diagnostics; and education and awareness. The largest fundraising program in the U.S. is the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer series.
About the Avon Foundation Breast Care Fund
The Avon Foundation Breast Care Fund is administered by Cicatelli Associates Inc. to support community-based, non-profit breast health programs across the country. The Fund’s National Advisory Board selected the breast health outreach and education programs at Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition as one of 143 new grant recipients nationwide in the 2008 cycle of Avon Foundation Breast Care Fund grants. These organizations were chosen based on their ability to effectively reach women, particularly minority, low-income, and older women, who are often medically underserved.
About the Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition, Inc.
The Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition, Inc. is a state-wide 501(c)(3) organization with offices in Wilmington, Dover and Lewes whose mission is to empower our community by raising awareness of breast health issues through outreach, education and support services, in order to facilitate the early detection and treatment of breast cancer. DBCC’s programs reach diverse communities to deliver messages that address their unique concerns about breast cancer and early detection. DBCC helps women with low incomes or with little or no insurance receive free or reduced-cost care and offers screening mammograms on the Women’s Mobile Health Screening van. DBCC also supports research into the causes of breast cancer and the pursuit of optimal treatments and cures. For more information call 8660312-DBCC or visit www.debreastcancer.org.
For more information about breast cancer, contact the American Cancer Society at 1-800-ACS-2345 or www.cancer.org, or the National Cancer Institute at 1-800-4-CANCER or www.cancer.gov.
To learn more about the Avon Foundation, call 1-866-505-AVON or visit www.avonfoundation.org, where you can also access the free printable Breast Health Resource Guide in English and Spanish. For information or to register or support the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer events, visit www.avonwalk.org or call 1-888-540-WALK.
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