AVON FOUNDATION BREAST CARE FUND AWARDS GRANT FOR BREAST CANCER AWARENESS PROGRAM TO THE ROSE
Local Organization Recognized With Support From National Program

Houston, TX (June 24, 2010)– – The Avon Foundation Breast Care Fund has awarded a $60,000 one-year grant to The Rose, a non-profit breast cancer organization, to increase awareness of the life-saving benefits of early detection of breast cancer. It is the seventh year that the program has received funding from the Avon Foundation for Women to support its work on this important health issue, and in recognition of the excellence of the program. 

The breast health program at The Rose will educate Houston-area women and provide them with low or no cost mammograms and clinical breast exams through the Empower HerÒ Sponsorship Program.  This program is vital because Houston ranks as the highest city in the nation for uninsured people.

Last year, The Rose provided 27,837 screening and diagnostic procedures for those able to pay; 15,680 screening and diagnostic procedures at no charge to low income, uninsured women; 7,621 free patient navigation services to other treatment patients without insurance. This program provides breast cancer detection services to those who cannot afford the costs of these potentially life saving procedures.

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women in the U.S., and the leading single cause of death overall in women between the ages of 20 and 55. Nationwide, there is a new diagnosis every three minutes and a death from breast cancer every fourteen minutes. In the Houston area, one woman dies from breast cancer every day. While advances have been made in prevention, diagnosis, treatment and cure, early detection still affords the best opportunity for successful treatment.  Programs such as the Empower HerÒ Sponsorship Program at The Rose help ensure that all women have access to early detection information and options, even poor and medically underserved women.

“We are so pleased that the Avon Foundation for Women shares our mission and has chosen to support our program.  With these funds we will be able to serve hundreds of women—for some our services will mean saving their lives.” says Dorothy Weston Gibbons, The Rose Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer.

Since 1993, the Avon Foundation for Women has awarded more than 1,300 grants to community-based breast health programs across the United States, including The Rose Empower Her® Sponsorship Program at The Rose. These programs are dedicated to educating underserved women about breast cancer and linking them to early detection screening services.

The Avon Foundation for Women and Breast Cancer Crusade

The Avon Foundation for Women, an accredited 501(c)(3) public charity, was founded in 1955 to improve the lives of women and their families. Now past the half century milestone, the Foundation brings this mission to life through the Speak Out Against Domestic Violence program and the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade, which raises funds and awareness to advance access to care and finding a cure for breast cancer, with a focus on the medically underserved. Since 1992 the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade has raised and awarded more than $640 million worldwide for medical research; access to care; support services; screening and diagnostics; and education and awareness. The largest fundraising program in the U.S. is the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer series.

The Avon Foundation Breast Care Fund
The Avon Foundation Breast Care Fund is administered by Cicatelli Associates Inc. to support community-based, non-profit breast health programs across the country.  The Fund's National Advisory Board selected the Empower Her® Sponsorship Program at The Rose as one of 125 new grant recipients nationwide in the 2010 cycle of Avon Foundation Breast Care Fund grants.  These organizations were chosen based on their ability to effectively reach women, particularly minority, low-income, and older women, who are often medically underserved.

For more Information
For more information on the Empower Her® Sponsorship Program at The Rose, please call 281.484.4708 or visit www.TheRose.org.  For more information about breast cancer, contact the American Cancer Society at 1-800-ACS-2345 or www.cancer.org, or the National Cancer Institute at 1-800-4-CANCER or www.cancer.gov.
To learn more about the Avon Foundation for Women, call 1-866-505-AVON or visit www.avonfoundation.org, where you can also access the free printable Breast Health Resource Guide in English and Spanish.  For information or to register or support the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer events, visit www.avonwalk.org or call 1-888-540-WALK.

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