National Spotlight
Who are you running for? — Join in the fight against breast cancer by running a full or half marathon through Marathon for the Cure™
Rally for the Cure — Golf, tennis, dinner events and so much more...
A brand to trust — We are honored that Susan G. Komen for the Cure® ranked number one in a recent Harris Interactive poll as the most valued non-profit brand and the charity people are most likely to donate money to. Additionally, Komen for the Cure ranked second on the 2010 list of the nation’s most trusted charities. Thank you to all who help us daily in the fight to end breast cancer!
Current Grant Recipients
These projects have been selected by our independent Grant Review Panel as those that will have the greatest impact in serving uninsured or underinsured women in our service area. Please note that Susan G. Komen for the Cure is not a direct service provider.
List of Current Community Grant Recipients
The following programs have received grants this year: WCTE Public Television - $25,000, Cookeville Regional Medical Center - $25,000, Tennessee Department of Health - $25,000, American Cancer Society - $25,000, and Warren County Educational Foundation with River Park Hospital - $9,615.
WCTE - "Grandma Do This for Me" Project
With its $25,000 grant, WCTE, the Upper Cumberland's public television station, will mount an intensive outreach campaign through education and media to promote awareness encouraging Head Start families, volunteer "Grandmothers", staff, and employees to have annual routine mammograms. The campaign titled, "Grandma Do This For Me," will center on the 21 Head Start Centers in the 14 rural counties of the Upper Cumberland. WCTE's educational outreach services associates will present training sessions to educate this population about the importance of early detection. WCTE will also produce public service announcements and testimonials to raise awareness of this important life-saving practice, and a live call-in program.
Tennessee Department of Health Upper Cumberland Breast and Cervical Screening Program - "The BeST for TN Women" Project
The Upper Cumberland Breast and Cervical Screening Program will use its $25,000 grant to increase screening for breast cancer in the 14 Upper Cumberland counties by providing outreach, education and screening for older, uninsured or underinsured women living in households with income less than 250 percent of the federal poverty level. The BeST (Breast Screening and Treatment) for Tennessee Women Project will target 120 women from the 14 counties in the Upper Cumberland region for enrollment and screening and will provide diagnostic follow up for 33 eligible women including women from the Free Mammogram Days sponsored by the Cookeville Regional Medical Center or county health department screening. The project is specifically trying to reach and serve women who are 50 and older who have never had a mammogram or have not had one in two or more years since these women are at greater risk. Women who are diagnosed with breast cancer are eligible for treatment through TennCare. Other partners with the program include the county extension workers in Macon, Clay, DeKalb and Overton counties where extension workers have included breast and cervical cancer education in their annual work plan and the Reach to Recovery Program offered by the American Cancer Society. This program links newly diagnosed women with breast cancer to women who are survivors.
Warren County Educational Foundation with River Park Hospital - "One Woman. One Life. One Difference." Project
According to a study by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Warren County had the second highest breast cancer mortality rate of all Tennessee counties between 2000 and 2004 at 36.4 deaths per 100,000. The Warren County Educational Foundation, founder of WCPI-FM Radio, has partnered with River Park Hospital to begin "One Woman. One Life. One Difference," a program targeting women in Warren and the adjacent counties of the Upper Cumberland. The $9,615 will help the project to create awareness for the need for every woman to receive a mammogram every year. The program will begin with an awareness campaign on WCPI-FM Radio devoted to breast health. The project will also provide 125 breast cancer screenings and diagnostic mammograms to underserved women over the age of 40 who meet income and residential guidelines. River Park Hospital will deliver the screening and diagnostic services, and the radio station will offer the vehicle to deliver Komen for the Cure messages to the residents of the western half of the Upper Cumberland Region. Outreach will include a "Focus on Your Health" radio program and several public service announcements on WCPI. The radio station will also provide advertising for the program at a discounted rate. The ads will focus on the target audience of uninsured, poverty-level women over the age of 40. River Park Hospital will provide the screenings and diagnostic services at rates equivalent to Medicare reimbursement.
American Cancer Society - "Breast Cancer Advocacy, Programs and Resource" Project
American Cancer Society will use its $12.550 grant to build a grassroots network of individuals committed to the fight against cancer. Two community forums will offer survivors, caregivers, and lawmakers the opportunity to discuss important public policy issues related to breast cancer. Its Reach to Recovery education and support program will bring together breast cancer survivors with newly diagnosed breast cancer patients. Volunteers offer patients and family members the opportunity to express feelings, verbalize fears and concerns, and ask questions of someone who is knowledgeable and compassionate. Most importantly, Reach to Recovery volunteers offer understanding, support, and hope because they themselves have survived breast cancer. The American Cancer Society will also make local resources such as wigs and transportation assistance available to patients.
Cookeville Regional Medical Center - "The Upper Cumberland "Save a Life" Pink Ribbon" Project
A $25,000 grant will fund The Upper Cumberland "Save a Life" Pink Ribbon Project, a culturally sensitive breast health awareness, education and screening project designed by the Women's Center, the Cancer Center and the Imaging Center at Cookeville Regional Medical Center to provide breast cancer education, screening, and diagnostic mammograms to medically underserved Hispanic, African American, and rural uninsured/underinsured women living in remote, rural communities throughout the 14 counties of the Upper Cumberland Region. A goal of the project is to create a communications "ripple effect" within targeted communities about how early detection can save the lives of women. A concurrent goal is to help families create generational messaging about the importance of self-exams and annual mammograms in saving lives. A CRMC breast cancer teaching team comprised of a nurse educator, a nurse navigator, and an interpreter, if needed, will work with and establish trusting relationships within the patient populations paving the way for on-going communications.
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