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News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 20, 2014
Metropolitan Hospital Center Receives Grant at Avon Walk for Breast Cancer
Annual Avon Walk for Breast Cancer New York City Raises $7 Million Grants Awarded to 11 Local Breast Cancer Organizations
Judith Santana, Alma T. Rockaway and Maria Delfina Rodriguez from the Metropolitan's MAS Progtram accept the check from the Avon Foundation for Women.
New York, NY - The 12th annual Avon Walk for Breast Cancer season continued in New York this weekend, raising $7 million to accelerate breast cancer research; improve access to screening, diagnosis and treatment; and educate people about breast cancer. HHC Metropolitan Hospital Center was one of eleven local organizations that received a grant from the Avon Foundation for Women at the Closing Ceremony.

The Avon Walk New York – the seventh of eight 2014 Avon Walks across the country – attracted nearly 3,000 participants from 41 states and Washington, D.C., as well as five countries including Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the U.S. In addition, 376 breast cancer survivors and 442 men joined together to raise lifesaving funds for breast cancer.

Eloise Caggiano, a breast cancer survivor and Avon Walk for Breast Cancer Program Director, announced 11 new grants to local breast cancer organizations, ensuring the funds raised immediately benefit the local community. “These grants represent only a portion of the funding that the Avon Foundation will distribute in New York and across the country this year, but we want to make sure the impact of your Walk begins today. Every grant moves us closer toward our goal of a world without breast cancer,” said Caggiano.

“We are honored to be a recipient of a grant from the Avon Foundation for Women again this year,” said Elizabeth Guzman, Acting Executive Director of Metropolitan Hospital Center. “The grant provides critical funding for our Metropolitan + Avon + Supporting the Safety Net (MAS) Program, which works year-round to connect women at risk to diagnostic, treatment and support services. MAS provides breast cancer care to women right here in their own community, regardless of their ability to pay. Metropolitan’s patients and staff are grateful to the Avon Foundation for their generous support of our MAS program.”

The New York organizations that received grants on stage to immediately benefit the community include:
  • Metropolitan Hospital Center received a grant of $100,000 to educate thousands of women and men about breast health and provide patient navigation, translation, and support services to hundreds of newly diagnosed breast cancer patients in East Harlem.
  • Breast Treatment Task Force received a grant of $50,000 to provide patient navigation and access to breast cancer treatment to the working un-insured or under-insured.
  • Cancer and Careers Program of the Cosmetic Executive Women Foundation received grant of $50,000 to produce an Educational Series for Health Care Professionals that provides important guidance and information on working during cancer treatment.
  • You Can Thrive! Received a grant of $50,000 to link medically underserved women to important medical services, nutrition education and risk reduction education to help prevent breast cancer recurrence.
  • Albert Einstein College of Medicine received a grant of $100,000 to support the B-BOLD Buddy Patient Navigation Program that helps underserved breast cancer patients throughout the Bronx and New York City adhere to and complete their breast cancer treatment, which increases their chances of survival.
  • Newark Beth Israel Medical Center received a grant of $100,000 to support a Nurse Navigator Program to ensure that hundreds of breast cancer patients served annually receive timely and high-quality breast cancer screening, diagnostics and treatment.
  • God’s Love, We Deliver, who brought provided meals and snacks for Walkers throughout the weekend, received a grant of $150,000 to provide 70,000 home delivered meals to breast cancer patients and their families this year.
  • New York University received two grants totaling $400,000 to support its patient navigation programs for underserved breast cancer patients treated at Bellevue Hospital and NYU Cancer Institute. In addition, the new funds will support a research clinical trial studying a new lung cancer drug to see if it can be used to fight metastatic breast cancer that has spread to the brain.
  • New York Presbyterian Hospital – Columbia University Medical Center, the home of the Avon Breast Cancer Center of Excellence, received a grant of $500,000 to support state-of-the art care for thousands of underserved women at the Avon Breast Imaging Center, as well as three breast cancer research projects at the Avon Foundation Research Laboratories at Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center.
  • Cancer Care received a grant of $500,000 to provide ongoing support to the AvonCares program, which has provided direct financial assistance to more than 75,000 low-income breast cancer patients across the U.S. since 2000.
  • Avon Foundation Breast Health Outreach Center received a grant of $2.75 Million to support more than 50 community-based groups across the country to provide outreach and screening in 2015.
Contact: Noel Alicea, 212-423-8162, noel.alicea@nychhc.org

About the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer New York
The Avon Walk for Breast Cancer New York began on Saturday, October 18 at 6:15 a.m. with an inspirational opening ceremony at Hudson River Park’s Pier 84. Walkers started their journey of 26.2 miles through the New York area, supported by an all-volunteer crew and cheered on by supporters. Participants spent Saturday night at the Walk’s “Wellness Village“ at Randall’s Island, featuring pink two-person tents, hot showers and meals, entertainment and volunteer medical services, as well as leisure activities such as yoga and a spa zone with mini-back and foot massages. On Sunday, October 19, after completing the Avon Walk’s final 13.1 miles, participants joined family and friends to celebrate their achievement at a closing ceremony at Hudson River Park’s Pier 84. For more information on the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer, visit www.avonwalk.org or call 888-541-WALK. To learn more about the Avon Foundation for Women visit www.avonfoundation.org.

About Metropolitan Hospital Center
Metropolitan Hospital Center (MHC) is the community hospital of choice for residents of East Harlem, northern Manhattan and neighboring communities. MHC provides culturally-sensitive care in a welcoming and hospitable setting, emphasizing primary care medicine and utilizing the latest advances in medical science. Metropolitan is part of the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC), the largest municipal hospital and health care system in the country. For more information, please visit www.nyc.gov/mhc


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