Avon Foundation Breast Care Fund awards grant forbreast cancer awareness

The Avon Foundation Breast Care Fund has awarded a $55,000 one-year grant to Memorial Health Care System to increase awareness of the life-saving benefits of early detection of breast cancer. It is the eighth year that the program has received Avon Foundation funding to support its work on this important health issue and in recognition of the excellence of the program.

The MaryEllen Locher Breast Center at Memorial will continue outreach efforts with the Mobile Mammography program to advance breast health education and screening in 23 Tennessee counties and in Northwest Georgia. Funds will also be used to continue promotion of the Tennessee Breast and Cervical Care Program (TBCCP), a service that is available to Tennessee’s uninsured and under-served women. TBCCP partners with local health care providers like Memorial to identify women who meet income guidelines, lack of insurance coverage and age recommendations to provide free breast and cervical cancer screenings.

“We are proud that the Avon Foundation shares our mission and has chosen to support our program,” says Kathy Dittmar, director of The MaryEllen Locher Breast Center at Memorial. “This grant will allow us to extend our educational and outreach services to even more women, including women living in shelters and those employed by companies. We are grateful to the Avon Foundation for their willingness to help us as we help others.”

In 2008 Memorial reached over 5,417 women with information about the importance of early detection of breast cancer with assistance as needed for annual screening clinical breast exams and mammograms based on age appropriate guidelines. Memorial’s Mobile Mammography Coach outreach program improved access to clinical breast exams and performed 2,398 mammograms.

Breast Cancer is the most common form of cancer in women in the United States and the leading cause of death in women between the ages of 40 and 55. Nearly 40 percent of breast cancer deaths could be prevented if all women practiced three early detection steps: annual mammograms beginning at age 40, annual clinical breast exams beginning at age 20, and monthly breast self-exams beginning at age 20. According to the American Cancer Society, the majority of women who don’t comply with these guidelines are poor and underserved.

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 MaryEllen Locher Breast Center at Memorial as one of 144 new grant recipients nationwide in the 2009 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.

For more information on Memorial’s outreach programs or about breast cancer, contact the MaryEllen Locher Breast Center at 423.495.6744.

For information on 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.