SW Michigan Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure
The SW Michigan Affiliate is a grass roots organization totally dependent on volunteers. Our goals are to increase awareness of breast healthcare options for everyone in southwest Michigan and to help the uninsured and underinsured community members obtain good breast healthcare.
The Affiliate raises funds throughout the year. Our primary fundraising event is the Race for the Cure® on the third weekend in May each year. Some events are nationally co-sponsored, such as the Yoplait "Save Lids to Save Lives" program.
Seventy-five percent of the funds we raise is used for local outreach breast cancer education, screening, and treatment programs. The remaining twenty-five percent goes directly to fund national breast cancer research grants and fellowships.
The annual highlight is the selection of local grant recipients whose projects address the eight county service area's residents breast cancer needs for education, screening and treatment. Local community and corporate participation in fundraising events make these grants possible.
Since the Affiliate's inception in 1996, community members are responsible for raising more than $800,000 for local grants used in southwest Michigan to fund local breast health education, screening and treatment programs. The first grant year awarded $10,000 to Calhoun County Health Department.
The Pink Saturdays for the Cure project is our most recent success. In 2007 we did a pilot project with 9 medical organizations which resulted in 699 free mammograms for uninsured and underinsured women in Southwest Michigan. That effort earned Pink Saturdays and all of the participating organizations an award from the Michigan Cancer Consortium.
In 2008 with the help and support of 32 medical organizations, including all 19 hospitals in Southwest Michigan, Pink Saturdays for the Cure provided 1,389 screening mammograms for uninsured and under-insured women in Southwest Michigan. We hope to extend grants again this year for Pink Saturdays for the Cure in order to provide free screening mammograms to uninsured women in Southwest Michigan.
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