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Susan G. Komen for the Cure Awards San Diego Organizations Nearly $1 Million to Fight Breast Cancer

Posted on: Tuesday, 8 April 2008, 15:00 CDT

SAN DIEGO, April 8, 2008 /PRNewswire/ -- Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the world's largest grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists committed to ending breast cancer forever, announced today that its San Diego Affiliate will award $960,000 in grants to local agencies. These grants are to help the uninsured and underinsured women and men in San Diego receive breast cancer education, screening and treatment services. In recognition of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, San Diego's outstanding service, leadership, and commitment to area residents, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors will declare Thursday, April 10, 2008, Light San Diego Pink Day.

Since its inception in 1995, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, San Diego, has awarded more than $6 million in grants in an effort to close the gaps in care, that make breast cancer deadlier for some women, which contributed to the 4,156 breast cancer deaths last year in California alone. According to a Community Assessment conducted by Susan G. Komen for the Cure, San Diego in 2006, San Diego women with a low-income and of a racial minority -- particularly Latina and African-American women -- are less likely to survive breast cancer.

Often it is a matter of disparity in access to screening and treatment as well as a lack of education about the disease that leads to deadly late-stage diagnoses. Additionally, according to the American Cancer Society, 21 percent of women in California have no health insurance. While nearly two out of three insured women over 40 had a mammogram last year, only one third of their uninsured counterparts did.

"Breast cancer at its early stage is more often detected in women in higher-income groups than those in lower incomes, and the reality today is that the difference between life and death often depends on when a patient is diagnosed," stated Laura Farmer Sherman, executive director of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, San Diego. "Therefore, the mantra in our fight is early detection. We have the power to make a difference for breast cancer patients by providing grants to local organizations and helping ensure access to our network of local clinics, researchers and businesses who offer thousands of uninsured or underinsured women life saving treatment, care and services."

The 2008 grants are being awarded to local organizations providing for specific areas of help that were identified in an extensive community assessment taken by Komen for the Cure, San Diego. The assessment, taken every two years, provides direction for the non-profit organization's work -- establishing the need for fundraising, education programs, priorities for funding grants and as a guide to decision making. The grants will be given at a "Light the Night Pink" reception on Thursday, April 10, 2008. In celebration of Light San Diego Pink Day, the San Diego Administration Building will be lit in a pink hue.

Komen for the Cure, San Diego funded grants to the following organizations in 2008:

A Women's Wellness Center, Inc. Asian Pacific Health Center Breast Cancer Survivors Brighter Side Virginia Ann Scheunemann Memorial Fund California Health Collaborative Council of Community Clinics Family Health Centers of San Diego Grossmont Hospital Foundation Guam Communications Network Indian Health Council, Inc. Jewish Family Service of San Diego La Maestra Family Clinic, Inc New Day's Dawn Palomar Pomerado North County Health Development, Inc. Partners for Community Access San Diego American Indian Health Center San Diego County Cancer Navigator San Ysidro Health Center Scripps Health, Scripps Cancer Center Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center Sharp Metropolitan Medical Campus Breast Cancer Center The Regents of the University of California; University of California, San Diego Vista Community Clinic About Susan G. Komen for the Cure, San Diego

Since its inception in 1995, more than $6 million has been given to local organizations that provide breast cancer education, screening, diagnostics, treatment and patient support for the uninsured or underinsured in San Diego County. Through a combination of fundraising events, grant-writing workshops, educational seminars and advocating for state legislation, the volunteers of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, San Diego are dedicated to addressing the immediate breast health needs of the communities they serve. Seventy-five percent of proceeds are awarded each year through a grant process to local organizations. Each grantee conducts a program that offers breast cancer education, screening or treatment to residents in the San Diego area. The remaining 25 percent is directed to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure National Grant Program to fund research on a national and international level. http://www.sdkomen.org/

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 and launched the global breast cancer movement. Today, Komen for the Cure is the world's largest grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists fighting to save lives, empower people, ensure quality care for all and energize science to find the cures. Thanks to events like the Komen Race for the Cure, the organization has invested nearly $1 billion to fulfill our promise, becoming the largest source of nonprofit funds dedicated to the fight against breast cancer in the world. http://www.komen.org/

Media Contact: Rachel Lipsitz PR Chair Susan G. Komen for the Cure, San Diego 619-849-5378 rlipsitz@pnlifesciences.com

Susan G. Komen for the Cure, San Diego

CONTACT: Rachel Lipsitz, PR Chair of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, SanDiego, +1-619-849-5378, rlipsitz@pnlifesciences.com

Web site: http://www.sdkomen.org/http://www.komen.org/

Source: PRNewswire

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