Chicago, IL— June 6, 2004 — Today at 4:00 p.m. at the closing ceremony of the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer Chicago, Avon Foundation President Kathleen Walas awarded five initial gifts to breast cancer organizations totaling $1,200,000. These gifts represent initial commitments from the $6.3 million total raised by the 2700 participants in the event.

The ceremony, held at Soldier Field Stadium Green, capped a weekend-long event during which walkers covered up to a marathon and a half (39 miles) through the Chicagoland area, supported by a staff of volunteer crew members every step of the way. The announcement of grants to breast cancer organizations throughout the Chicago area and nationwide was a high point of the celebration shared by participants, family and friends. Additional funding announcements will be made later in the year.

“Each of these institutions receiving funds makes a significant difference not just to the individual patients they serve, but to everyone in the Greater Chicago and Midwest regions,” said Walas. “Breast cancer affects everyone, and as long it exists, so will our commitment to funding initiatives to defeat this disease on both individual and universal levels, from Chicago to the United States to the entire world.”

During the weekend of the Avon Walk, the dates for the 2005 Chicago, IL event – June 4-5* – were announced, and current participants started registering to repeat their experience. General registration is open online at www.avonwalk.org.

About the Avon Walk Chicago
The Avon Walk Chicago began early Saturday morning at Soldier Field Stadium Green. Participants traveled through the Chicago area’s historic and varied communities towards the Wellness Village at Warren Park. Walkers had a choice of walking a half marathon (13.1miles) or full marathon (26.2 miles) route on their first day. At the Village, their home away from home for the night, participants celebrated their first day’s journey with yoga, massage and entertainment. The Village also provided the essentials to keep participants comfortable, including sleeping tents, hot showers, prepared hot meals and comprehensive medical services.

Throughout the weekend, a dedicated all-volunteer crew cared for the walkers, ensuring their safety and supporting their needs. In addition, friends and family came out to visit their loved ones and show support along the route and at the Wellness Village.

Today, Sunday, all walkers completed the final half marathon (13.1 miles), returning to their point of origin – Soldier Field Stadium Green — for the closing ceremony celebration attended by hundreds of family and supporters.

About the Avon Foundation New Funding Grants
John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County (JSH), formerly known as Cook County Hospital, received a $500,000 gift, bringing the total amount awarded by the Avon Foundation to its facility to $2.3 million over three years. JSH is a major urban teaching hospital that serves a predominantly minority and medically-underserved population. Eighty percent of its patients are at or below poverty level; 55% are self-pay and are described as "working poor" whose employment does not provide an insurance benefit. This latest Avon Foundation gift will be used to bring the most modern, high quality breast oncology care to minority-underserved women and to coordinate these efforts with other mammography screening facilities in the Cook County system. The Program Director for the gift will be Keith A. Dookeran, MD. Additionally, portions of the funds will go towards acquiring the latest breast diagnostic technology, including sonography equipment and to increasing the patient navigator capacity, to facilitate improvement in diagnosis of early breast cancer. The gift will also be used to expand community-based programs on prevention and control as methods for reducing breast cancer mortality and morbidity.

The Cook County Bureau of Health Services was awarded $300,000 to use towards reducing waiting times for diagnostic and other follow-up services. The Avon Foundation gift will fund initiatives to increase technological infrastructure and provide salary support to convert manual tracking methods to computerized ones and to standardize patient tracking at all three facilities in the Cook County Health System offering mammography services. Funds will also support additional select personnel costs. The Cook County Bureau of Health Services provides a full continuum of public health services to the medically underserved through its network of hospitals and community health centers. Ninety percent of the population served by the Bureau is uninsured or has access only to public insurance.

Community Health and Emergency Services (CHES) received $200,000, bringing the total amount of Avon Foundation grants to the organization to $274,000 over three years. CHES provides a full range of health services to the rural area of Cairo, Illinois. A successful Avon Foundation Breast Care Fund program, CHES previously lacked the funds to keep pace with changing technology, which is typical of many rural health care organizations in the US. This latest Avon Foundation gift will allow CHES to purchase a Siemens mammogram machine and supplies, support the mammography building expansion needed for the hospital’s current increase in patient load, and will help fund two staff positions. This increase in funding will enable CHES to reach more underserved women and ensure compliance with federal regulations pertaining to patient tracking and follow-up.

The Chinese American Service League was awarded $100,000, bringing the total amount gifted to the organization to $243,000 over four years. This organization is the largest and most comprehensive social service organization in the Midwest dedicated to serving the needs of Chinese Americans. Its breast health project offers a critical service to the low-income, monolingual Chinese immigrant women of the greater Chicago area. This latest Avon Foundation gift will be used to purchase equipment and to provide additional part-time staff, including a nurse practitioner and patient navigators. These new funds will allow the program not only to reach more women, but also to strengthen the League’s partnerships with medical providers with whom they work, which will ultimately increase outreach and improve effectiveness and continuity of quality care.

The Jewish Hospital (Health Alliance) received $100,000, bringing the total amount awarded to the facility by the Avon Foundation to more than $550,000 over two years. In 2003, the Avon Foundation provided funds for the Jewish Hospital to purchase a mobile mammography van, an x-ray unit, and to hire a patient navigator. The mobile unit plays a vital role in the screening of more than 13,000 women annually for residents of Ohio and Northern Kentucky. New funding will support the continuation of existing services and expand the hospital's screening and follow-up services for uninsured and low-income women to Indiana, as there is no accessible health care facility in this very rural area bordering Ohio. In addition, funds will support a patient navigator to assist and support patients.

About the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer
The Avon Walk for Breast Cancer series is a project of the Avon Foundation, a 501(c )(3) public charity, which also manages and disburses the funds raised. All net proceeds from the Avon Walks are returned to the breast cancer cause nationwide to support awareness and education; screening and diagnosis; treatment; support services and scientific research. Beneficiaries range from leading cancer centers to community-based non-profit breast health programs, with a focus on reaching the medically underserved and a mission to fund access to care and finding a cure for breast cancer. For more than a decade, the Avon Foundation Breast Cancer Crusade has been raising significant funds and awareness for the breast cancer cause. Since 1992, the Avon Crusade has raised and awarded more than $300,000,000 to breast cancer research and care organizations worldwide. Funds are raised through a wide variety of special events, product sales, walks, runs, concerts and other initiatives in 50 countries.

In addition to the new beneficiaries, several greater Chicagoland and Illinois area organizations have received funding from the Avon Foundation, including the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, Y-Me National Breast Cancer Organization and the YWCA’s of Lake County and Peoria.

The 2004 national sponsors for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer series include Novartis, Health magazine and RYKÄ, footwear for women; FIJI is the Official Water and United Airlines is the Official Airline.