Southcentral Foundation receives ‘Avon Breast Health Outreach Program’ grant

For the 13th year, Southcentral Foundation has received a one-year, $55,000 grant from the Avon Breast Health Outreach Program to support increasing awareness of the life-saving benefits of early breast cancer detection.

The grant helps Southcentral Foundation refer Alaska Native women throughout the Anchorage Service Unit — including the Mat-Su Borough and more than 55 villages in Alaska — to low-cost or free mammograms and clinical breast exams in their own communities.

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 40 and 55. According to the American Cancer Society, 410 new cases of breast cancer will be detected in Alaska this year and 70 lives will be lost. For Alaska Native women, breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer and the leading cause of cancer death.

Since 2000, the Southcentral Foundation Breast and Cervical Health Program has informed more than 22,000 women about the importance of early detection of breast cancer and has referred more than 22,000 women for mammograms and clinical breast exams.