As some of you may seen from my Facebook updates, my mom, sister, and I are hoping to participate in the DC Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in May. In order to walk, each of us needs to raise $1800; we'll then spend two days in May covering almost 40 miles in the city.
I’ve committed to participating in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer because money raised will help provide access to care for those that most need it, fund educational programs, and accelerate research into new treatments and potential cures. Too many women die each year because of late detection, and a disturbing number of those deaths are among the uninsured who often put off routine checkups because of finances. Survivor contestant Jennifer Lyon who died in January at age 37 stated that one of the reasons she put off seeing a doctor after finding a lump because she didn't have any insurance. That story really hit home for me as my sister is currently among the uninsured- her employer is not required to provide it, and she wasn't able to obtain coverage on her own.
The money raised in the 2009 DC walk supported the following programs:
The National Breast Cancer Coalition Fund received $1,812,018 to continue Project LEAD, a vital program that trains breast cancer survivors to be patient advocates and serve as advisors to research and funding programs.
Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore) received $850,000 support access to care programs at the Avon Breast Center at Johns Hopkins as well as cutting edge research.
Capital Breast Care Center (Washington, D.C.) received $750,000 to support Avon’s signature patient care program in the District, run in partnership by Georgetown Medical Center and Medstar Health. The Capital Breast Care Center provides critical safety net services to medically underserved and uninsured women in the Washington DC metropolitan area, serving more than 2,400 per year.
George Washington University (Washington, D.C.) received $300,000 to support research into a particular biomarker that is found in 80% of invasive ductal breast tumors and metastasis, with a focus on determining its use as a marker in risk assessment and predictor of disease progression.
Virginia Tech Foundation (Virginia) received $300,000 to support a research project entitled Environmental Risk of Breast Cancer Development: Molecular Basis for Prevention. This study will investigate the mechanisms through which the circadian clock acts as a tumor suppressor in the biology of estrogen-dependent breast cancer.
Food and Friends (Washington, D.C.) received $250,000 to support their Avon Pink Ribbon Delivery Program which provides specialized nutrition support and individualized nutrition counseling to women living with breast cancer and their families in metropolitan Washington, D.C. providing 460,000 meals to 1,600 women fighting breast cancer and their families since 2000.
If you would like to donate to the cause and help me reach my fundraising goal to ensure I can participate in the Avon Walk, here is the link to my fundraising page:
http://info.avonfoundation.org/site/TR/Walk/WashingtonDC?px=5354861&pg=personal&fr_id=1910
