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Komen affiliate boosts grants by 30 percent

Aspen Times Staff

The Aspen Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation will distribute close to $500,000 next year from net proceeds of its 2005 Race for the Cure, 2005 Bicycle for the Cure and the second annual Ride for the Cure.It is a 30 percent increase from 2005 grant awards, making the Aspen Komen foundation one of the largest grant-making organizations in its service area along the Interstate 70 corridor from Silt to Vail and in the Roaring Fork Valley.The Aspen affiliate has sent another $137,000 in grant money to National Susan G. Komen in Dallas for research, bringing the total in 2006 contributions to about $637,000.Among this year’s new grants is an allocation to the Family Visitor Program, which reaches new mothers in the Latina population – one of the affiliate’s target groups, according to Maura Masters, media chairwoman.”It’s one of our main objectives, to reach the Latina community,” she said. “Broadening our grant distribution to reach that demographic is something we’re very proud of.”Based on the recommendations from the Aspen grant committee, the board of directors awarded the following grants for 2006: Aspen Valley Hospital, for continuing education for mammographers, 8th Woman Campaign, ultrasound assistance, digital mammography machine (first installment of a two-year grant) and Pathfinders for Cancer: $180,216. Community Health Services Inc. for patient education, continuing staff education, clinical breast exams and indigent supplement for mammograms: $46,692. Eagle Care Medical Clinic for Eagle Breast Care Screening Program, for uninsured or underinsured women in Eagle County: $7,700. Family Visitor Program for breast health education, for Latina and other women in western Garfield County: $15,190. Grand River Hospital District – includes continuing education, low-cost mammograms, ultrasounds and servicing of mammography equipment: $22,250. Mountain Family Health Centers, for mammograms, ultrasound, and other diagnostic and screening procedures to uninsured and medically indigent patients in Garfield County: $32,997. Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, Glenwood Springs Health Center, for clinical breast exams, screening mammograms, diagnostic mammograms and ultrasounds to uninsured and underinsured women with a focus on Latina women: $12,887. The Shaw Regional Cancer Center (Vail Valley Medical Center), for books and other educational materials to the largest medical library in the Aspen Komen service area: $6,000. Vail Valley Medical Center Sonnenalp Breast Diagnostic Imaging Center, for an EnCor Vacuum-Assisted Breast Biopsy System (first installment of a two-year grant): $13,817. Valley View Hospital, for patient education, mammograms, ultrasounds, biopsies, digital mammography equipment, Dilon 6800 Breast-Specific Gamma Camera (first installment of a two-year grant): $160,245. The grants allow the recipient agencies in Pitkin, Garfield and Eagle counties to provide hundreds of women who might not otherwise be able to afford it the opportunity for annual breast exams, low-cost or no-cost mammograms and diagnostic ultrasound screenings, as well as educational materials on the benefits of early detection, and state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment, according to the Aspen Affiliate of the Komen Foundation. These grants also provide for local breast-health education programs and nationally funded research grants.