2009 Grant Recipients Announced

Grantee information

Determined to save lives and end breast cancer forever, the NC Foothills Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure® has awarded six grants totaling $170,366 to programs in Burke, Caldwell, and Catawba Counties. To meet needs we have discovered right here in our community, two grants totaling $73,000 were awarded to programs in Burke County. Blue Ridge HealthCare’s Helping the Medically Underserved was awarded $43,000 to provide screening and diagnostic mammograms to at-risk women. The Good Samaritan Clinic received $28,000 to increase awareness among the county’s indigent population.

A grant totaling $45,000  was awarded to the Caldwell County Health Department. Working with the Center for Breast Health of Caldwell Memorial Hospital, the Caldwell County Health Department has developed a free screening program for underserved women in Caldwell County. This program provides screening for women under the age of 50 that do not have adequate insurance and do not qualify for state or federal funding. Since beginning the program in 2002 with a grant from the Affiliate, the program has provided hundreds of mammograms, several breast biopsies and many ultrasounds for women that would have gone un-served.

Catawba County programs were awarded three grants totaling $54,366 from the NC Foothills Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure®. Catawba County Health Department’s Building a Healthier Tomorrow for Women received $45,000 to provide screening or diagnostic testing, and surgical or medication treatment for women with newly discovered breast abnormalities. Fitness Plus at Catawba Valley Medical Center received $2,806 to add Yoga for Breast Cancer Survivors. A third grant, totaling $6,560, was awarded to Catawba County Hispanic Ministry to offer screening through the mobile mammography unit at their office.

The Komen NC Foothills Affiliate serves Burke, Caldwell, and Catawba Counties and is part of the 125-Affiliate network of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the world’s largest and most progressive grassroots network fighting to end breast cancer forever. The Affiliates are the face and voice of Komen for the Cure’s global breast cancer movement in communities around the world. Through local events and activities, the Komen NC Foothills Affiliate mobilizes and educates thousands of community members while raising funds to support community-based breast cancer programs.

“To meet needs we have discovered right here in our community, this year’s grants specifically provide awareness, screening, diagnostic testing and treatment for underserved women, as well as an exercise program for survivors” said Carolyn Cooper of the Affiliate. In order to ensure it is funding programs that address the specific unmet breast cancer needs of  Burke, Caldwell, and Catawba Counties, the Komen NC Foothills Affiliate works with local health care professionals and community leaders to conduct a comprehensive community needs assessment. This community profile, a standard practice of all Komen Affiliates, is then used to establish a local grant application and review process consistent with the organization’s standards and mission.

Last year, Susan G. Komen for the Cure Affiliates—working in concert with local organizations—awarded more than $80 million in needs-based community grants. That's in addition to the 25 percent of their income that Affiliates contribute toward the many millions the organization invests each year in promising research.