Spartanburg Regional will provide screening and diagnostic services to low-income and uninsured women in Spartanburg County, thanks to a grant from the South Carolina Upstate affiliate of the Susan G. Koman for the Cure.

 

At its annual Grant Award Ceremony at the Thornblade Club in Greenville, the Upstate South Carolina Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure announced its 2009 grant awards totaling $647,000, a 28 percent increase over last year’s awards. Of the total, $494,000 was awarded to 13 not-for-profit health care organizations to fund breast cancer education, screening and treatment support for the underserved and $153,400 was awarded to fund national and local breast cancer research.

 

The funds awarded were raised from numerous fundraising events throughout the year including the 14th Annual Komen Upstate Race for the Cure® which raised a record $614,000 last year, a 23 percent increase over the prior year. The Komen Upstate Race for the Cure® drew participants from the entire Upstate and included 5,300 registered participants, 450 survivors and 60 corporate sponsors.

 

“Of the net proceeds raised each year, up to 75 percent of the net proceeds stays in the Upstate community to fund grants for innovative breast health programs within the 11 Upstate counties,” says Grants Chair, Liza Owens. “The remaining 25 percent is sent to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Grant Program to fund breast cancer research.”

 

During the past five years, research funds awarded by the Upstate SC Affiliate were used to fund three local breast cancer research grants. Two grants of $250,000 in 2004 and $250,000 in 2006 were awarded to Dr. Wen Chen, who holds a joint appointment as assistant director of molecular biology at the Oncology Research Institute, Greenville Hospital System University Medical System, and a biology professor at Clemson University. Another grant totaling $180,000 was awarded in 2008 to Ya-Ping Sun, Ph.D. at Clemson University for his work on “Multimodality-Enabled Optical Imaging Agents” for breast cancers.

 

With this announcement, the Upstate South Carolina Affiliate has awarded $3.8 million in grants since 1995. Of that amount, 146 grants worth $2.8 million have been awarded in the Upstate community and $1 million has been awarded to fund breast cancer research through the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Grants Program.

 

“Based on the findings of our comprehensive Community Needs Assessment, these grants play a critical role in meeting the identified specific, unmet breast health needs within our community,” Owens said.

 

The Upstate South Carolina Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure—along with those who generously support us with their talent, time and resources—is working to better the lives of those facing breast cancer in our community. We join more than 100,000 breast cancer survivors and activists around the globe as part of the world’s largest and most progressive grassroots network fighting breast cancer. Join us by calling Upstate South Carolina Affiliate at 864-234-5035 or visiting us online at www.KomenUpstateSC.org.

 

Nancy G. Brinker promised her dying sister, Susan G. Komen, she would do everything in her power to end breast cancer forever. In 1982, that promise became Susan G. Komen for the Cure and launched the global breast cancer movement. Today, Komen for the Cure is the world’s largest grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists fighting to save lives, empower people, ensure quality care for all and energize science to find the cures. Thanks to events like the Komen Race for the Cure, it hasinvested $1.3 billion to fulfill our promise, becoming the largest source of nonprofit funds dedicated to the fight against breast cancer in the world. For more information about Susan G. Komen for the Cure, breast health or breast cancer, visit www.komen.org or call 1 (877) Go Komen.