CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs has been awarded an $8,955 grant for its Mobile Mammography program, the Arkansas Affiliate of Susan G. Komen announced Friday.
CHI St. Vincent's Mobile Mammography Unit made its debut in July 2012 and visits rural areas in Garland, Saline, Clark, Montgomery and Pike counties in south central Arkansas to provide services to underserved women.
This is the 21st year the Komen organization has awarded grants to programs around the state that work in the fight against breast cancer, a news release said.
Komen for the Cure was established as the Komen Foundation in 1982 by Nancy Brinker to honor the memory of her sister, Susan G. Komen, who died from breast cancer at the age of 36. Komen for the Cure, with its Affiliate Network, is the world's largest private funder of community-based breast health education and breast cancer screening and treatment programs.
Together with its Affiliate Network, corporate partners and donors, Komen for the Cure has raised more than $1 billion for the fight against breast cancer, the release said.
Funds for the grants, which totaled $917,526, were raised mainly through the Race for the Cure chaired in 2014 by Ashley Hunt. It was also announced that $275,000 raised in Arkansas will go directly into Komen National Research grants to find a cure for breast cancer.
"We are always proud of the opportunity to help the women in our state with our grants," said Arkansas Affiliate Executive Director Sherrye McBryde.
"Our grants are a direct result of the hard work of our volunteers and the generosity of our supporters. The recipients of these funds were chosen because they reflect the commitment of the Arkansas Affiliate to assure the women of Arkansas get the vital breast health services they need. Additionally, $265,000 has been used for breast cancer research to help find the cure," she said.
"We were so pleased to be able to raise almost $1 million dollars that will have a direct impact on the women and men of Arkansas fighting breast cancer," said Komen Arkansas Board Chair Leila Dockery.
"Whether they fight for someone they love, or fight for themselves, or for their mothers, grandmothers, aunts, or children, we join them in their efforts to eradicate this disease. We worked hard to earn this money and we are so proud to distribute to such trustworthy, valuable, impactful programs. We are also pleased to send $275,000 to Komen National for research. Our fight continues until a cure is found," she said.
In 1994, the Komen Arkansas Affiliate first awarded grants totaling $78,700. In 2015, the largest grant totaled $159,501, which was awarded to Greater Delta Alliance for Health in Lake Village/Pine Bluff for its Access Project Pink/Reach Every Woman program.
The CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs grant was the smallest.
The Affiliate also awarded its highest honor, the Hickingbotham Award for Service to Baxter Regional Medical Center, which has provided mobile mammography to the north central part of the state serving the underserved women since 2001. The Mobile Mammography Unit sees about 2,700 patients each year, and in a show of future commitment to their community, BRMC outfitted the MMU with 3D Tomosynthesis Imaging, making Baxter Regional the first MMU in the United States to provide the cutting edge technology, the release said.
Local on 03/30/2015