Delaware First Lady, Komen Philadelphia Affiliate Honor DBCC and others with Grant Awards
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For Susan G. Komen for the Cure For DBCC
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DELAWARE FIRST LADY, KOMEN PHILADELPHIA AFFILIATE, HONOR
FOUR DELAWARE ORGANIZATIONS FOR THEIR EFFORTS TO EMPOWER LOCAL COMMUNITIES IN THE FIGHT AGAINST BREAST CANCER
Special recognition event at the Governor’s Mansion celebrates the awarding of more than $320,000 in Komen Philadelphia grants, April 8
PHILADELPHIA, PA—The First Lady of Delaware, Carla Markell, as well as select guests from the state’s healthcare and professional communities, will be celebrating the recent awarding of $322,668 in grants to four local organizations by the Philadelphia Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure® at a special awareness event on Thursday, April 8. The grants, awarded by the Komen Philadelphia Affiliate to fund breast health education, awareness, screening, treatment and support projects targeting low-income, uninsured women, were given to: Bayhealth Medical Center, Inc., Christiana Care Health System – Helen F. Graham Cancer Center, Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition, and the Tunnnell Cancer Center at Beebe Medical Center.
“All the grantees throughout our thirteen-county service area represent the grassroots efforts that make Susan G. Komen for the Cure a leader in the international breast cancer movement,” said Elaine I. Grobman, Executive Director of the Philadelphia Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. “The Komen Philadelphia Affiliate’s four new Delaware grantees, in particular, serve as a critical access point for life-changing, life-saving breast health education, treatment and other means of empowerment to a diversity of populations that, for far too long, have been neglected and at high risk. Together, we and these grantees are breaking through barriers and building bridges so that all people can one day soon live in a world without breast cancer.”
As a breast cancer survivor, Ms. Markell offers special insights on the importance of the grants, as well as a unique brand of appreciation for the resources being made available to the state through the Komen Philadelphia Affiliate the grant recipients.
“I am a breast cancer survivor and like so many Delaware women, I am fortunate that my cancer was caught early,” said Carla Markell. “Unfortunately, many other women are suffering from this terrible disease. Sometimes, women don’t know they have breast cancer because they haven’t had a mammogram. Early detection is critical to life-saving treatment. I am here today because of that, and I want to help empower women at every economic level to get the breast cancer screening information they need to take care of themselves for life.”
The Delaware grantees will be honored at a special event at the Woodburn Governor’s Mansion (151 Kings Highway, Dover) on April 8, beginning at 2:00 PM. More than simply presenting the grant awards, this event is designed to generate greater awareness of the activism of the Komen Philadelphia Affiliate happening every day in the state of Delaware, with all three counties—Kent, New Castle and Sussex—falling into The Affiliate’s thirteen county-service area. Established as an official Susan G. Komen for the Cure affiliate in 2001, the Komen Philadelphia Affiliate has been awarding grants to Delaware outreach and healthcare organizations every year since 2003, with $1,736,665 invested to date.
“Our name may be the Philadelphia Affiliate, but the people of Delaware are every bit a part of our family as residents of Philadelphia and surrounding communities,” said Grobman. “And, we dedicate ourselves to caring for them as family—putting every man, woman and child in the state, especially women in need, in touch with the breast cancer services that can save their lives and empower their futures.”
Highlights of the event include:
• First Lady’s address: 2:00 PM
• Explanation of Grant Program: by Elaine Grobman, Executive Director,
Komen Philadelphia Affiliate
• Presentation of Grantee Recognition Awards: by First Lady Carla Markell and Elaine
Grobman
• Ceremonial Registration for the 2010 Susan G. Komen Philadelphia Race for the Cure®: by Ms. Markell on behalf of herself and Governor Jack Markell (Honorary Race Co-Chairperson)
The timing of the event was strategized to integrate the official awarding of the grants as well as the upcoming Komen Philadelphia Race for the Cure, for which Governor Jack Markell is Honorary Chairperson. By embracing members of the Delaware community in the opportunity to register for the Race and fundraise, The Affiliate also offers them the opportunity to make an impact in the neighborhoods in which they live by contributing to the mechanism that makes the grants a reality. Celebrating its milestone 20th anniversary in Philadelphia, the Race will be held this Mother’s Day, May 9.
The four grantees in Delaware are part of a group of thirty-three grantees awarded a total of nearly $2.1 million by the Komen Philadelphia Affiliate this March. Together, in 2010-2011 these grantees are expected to accomplish the following:
• Referral mammograms: 7,049
• Mammograms performed: 3,787
• Clinical breast exams: 5,105
• Number of people educated: 9,638
• Total number of people reached through outreach: 38,475
The grant money is a result of Komen Philadelphia Affiliate fundraising efforts throughout 2009, the biggest contributor being the 19th annual Susan G. Komen Philadelphia Race for the Cure.® Seventy-five percent of the total monies raised through the Race stays in the Komen Philadelphia Affiliate’s thirteen-county service area to support education, screening and treatment initiatives—the Grant recipients. The remaining funds support the Komen National Research Grant Program.
About Susan G. Komen for the Cure
Nancy G. Brinker promised her dying sister, Susan G. Komen, she would do everything in her power to end breast cancer forever. In 1982, that promise became Susan G. Komen for the Cure, which is now the world’s largest breast cancer organization and the largest source of nonprofit funds dedicated to the fight against breast cancer with nearly $1.5 billion invested to date.
Up to 75% of net proceeds generated by the Komen Philadelphia Affiliate stays in its thirteen-county service area. The remaining goes to the national Komen for the Cure Grants Program.
More information on the Komen Philadelphia Affiliate, 2010 Komen Philadelphia Race for the Cure 20th anniversary celebration and the Komen Philadelphia Affiliate Grant Program is available at http://www.KomenPhiladelphia.org.
About the Grantee Programs
To follow are summaries of the programs funded by the Komen Philadelphia Affiliate in the Delaware community.
Bayhealth Medical Center Inc.
Program title: Bayhealth Screening and Treatment Partnership Program
Grant type: Screening/Treatment
Bayhealth’s Screening and Treatment Partnership Program provides outreach and education regarding breast health and healthy lifestyle choices; free clinical breast exam clinics; and breast imaging services to uninsured and underinsured women in Kent and Sussex Counties, DE. Bayhealth also targets high-risk populations with small media to promote breast health awareness, prevention, and screening. Bayhealth’s Breast Care Coordinator collaborates with safety net providers and community-based organizations to initiate breast care for their clients, and also provides breast health education and screening services. In addition, with the help of core partners, Bayhealth coordinates transportation, translation, and education for the medically underserved.
Additional information available at: http://www.BayHealth.org
Christiana Care Health System - Helen F. Graham Cancer Center
Program title: The Pink Ribbon Breast Program: Delaware’s Comprehensive Community Network
Grant type: Screening/Treatment
Pink Ribbon Breast Program (PRBP) will increase breast health education and breast screenings for minority and uninsured women through developing and sustaining a community network utilizing community health centers, lay patient navigators and providing supplemental funds for screening/diagnostic services. Minority and uninsured women from New Castle County and Wilmington will benefit. A PRBR bilingual patient navigator coordinates outreach activities, convenes education lunch-and-learn sessions, and utilizes community partners to distribute education materials for 2500 individuals. They assist 925 women with completion of their mammography and clinical breast exams and 225 women with financial support if ineligible
for the Screening for Life program, or it they are under insured. The PRBP navigator
and lay patient navigators provide one-on-one education and assistance with mammography scheduling. Program evaluation will track and report progress made toward women educated, screened and funded, and initiation of a health care provider and community partner survey.
Additional information available at: http://www.ChristianaCare.org
Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition
Program title: Breast Health Advocacy Project
Grant type: Education/Support
Through the Breast Health Advocacy project, DBCC will serve medically underserved populations in Kent and Sussex Counties, focusing on women ages 40 and older who are rarely/never screened, uninsured or underinsured, African American, and Latinas, and those with barriers to accessing health care. DBCC will reach women and men with basic breast health and screening information through outreach at health/wellness fairs, faith-based organizations, worksites, cultural festivals, and other community events utilizing staff and volunteer lay health advisors. DBCC will provide 800 referrals for free or reduced-cost screenings through providers such as the Women’s Mobile Health Screening van. Women newly diagnosed with breast cancer will be referred to the Peer Mentor Support Program and an educational program to assist them in understanding their diagnosis, treatment, and support services available to them. DBCC will also provide training and technical assistance to organizations in Sussex County that seek to increase breast cancer screenings, reduce mortality and create support systems for women diagnosed with breast cancer. The Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition has three offices statewide.
Additional information available at: http://www.DEBreastCancer.org
Tunnell Cancer Center at Beebe Medical Center
Program title: Sharing Our Stories, Saving our Sisters (SOS2)
Grant type: Screening/Treatment
The Sharing Our Stories, Saving Our Sisters (SOS2), produced by the Tunnell Cancer Center at Beebe Medical Center aims to save women’s lives, providing eligible women, particularly women of color who reside in Sussex County, Delaware, with access to a seamless breast health continuum of care. Lay screening navigators who are also breast cancer survivors will co-host culturally appropriate breast health education programs, enabling SOS2 to address many cultural barriers preventing women of color to participate in breast health programs and screening, and increase women’s likelihood of participating. Culturally competent cancer survivors are attractive and credible messengers of cancer information, and sharing their stories increases public awareness of cancer and utilization of cancer screenings because they demonstrate successes of people living with cancer. Through partnerships with churches and community organizations the SOS2 Project uses community ties and a sense of place to create a familiarity to the story, as well as addresses barriers so that women may seamlessly travel from education to screening to treatment to support knowing that whatever barriers exist for them will be addressed. Clinical breast exams, mammograms, and diagnostic breast health services and treatment are provided free to participants so those without insurance can receive needed care.
Additional information available at: http://www.BeebeMed.org
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L to R: Elaine Grobman, Executive Director, Philadelphia Affilliate Susan G. Komen for the Cure; Victoria Cooke, Executive Director, Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition; Carla Markell, First Lady; Sandra Arnell, DBCC Volunteer, Breast Cancer Survivor. 2nd Row: Lois Wilkinson, Special Projects Manager DBCC; Vicky Tosh-Morelli, Program Manager DBCC; Barbara McGowan, DBCC Volunteer, Breast Cancer Survivor.