Washington, DC— May 1 — DC and its neighbors are about to see an increase in health care and other services for people who may face breast cancer. Today at the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer Closing Ceremony at the District’s L’Enfant Promenade, Avon Foundation President Kathleen Walas announced gifts totaling $2.73 million to DC, Maryland and national organizations that provide breast care for medically underserved individuals. These gifts are in addition to the millions of dollars previously awarded to breast care initiatives in DC, Maryland and Virginia by the Avon Foundation, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.

Today’s gifts will be given to: the Capital Breast Care Center/Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Food and Friends, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins Medical Center and the National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Each of these organizations share the Avon Foundation’s goal of providing access to care and finding a cure for breast cancer.

“These institutions share our mission, and we are grateful for everything they do and are proud to provide funding to help support their great work in the community,” Walas said.

The funds distributed at today’s ceremony were from the $5.2 million raised by more than 2,200 dedicated women and men from throughout the state and nation who participated in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer DC. These individuals walked up to a marathon and a half throughout the DC area this weekend, covering up to 26.2 miles Saturday and camping out overnight before continuing another 13.1 miles on Sunday. Walkers were supported by an all-volunteer crew throughout their journey, as well as cheering stations manned by family, friends and local Avon Foundations beneficiaries. All monies raised at Avon Walks are awarded by the Avon Foundation, a 501(c)(3) public charity, for access to care and finding a cure for breast cancer, with a focus on the medically underserved.

This was the third year the Avon Walk has come to DC, and the Avon Foundation has already announced it will be back April 29-30, 2006. “This weekend, we walked in Washington for every mother, every sister, every daughter and son here and throughout the country who is touched by breast cancer,” Walas said, “The spirit was unforgettable and the impact undeniable.”

About the Gifts and Beneficiaries
The new gifts were awarded at the closing ceremony to ensure funds immediately benefit the community. The beneficiaries are:

• Capital Breast Care Center/Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center: A gift of $900,000 will provide salary support for clinical, technical, program management, patient navigation and administrative staff and operating expenses for this vital program in Southeast DC, which was founded with an initial from the Avon Foundation. The new grant enables critical breast health and screening services among a population of medically underserved women who are traditionally outside the healthcare system.
• Food and Friends: A gift of $200,000 will allow the continuation of the Avon Foundation Pink Ribbon Delivery Program, which provides nutritious meals and nutritional counseling to homebound breast cancer patients and their families. Since the launch in 2001, the Pink Ribbon program has delivered more than 169,000 meals, which are prepared in the state-of-the-art Avon Foundation-funded kitchen in the new Food and Friends facility. Avon Foundation dollars are now replicating breast cancer patient support through similar nutritional programs in San Francisco, New York, and Boston.
• National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences: A gift of $200,000 will support the annual conference on “Emerging Topics in Breast Cancer” and a training workshop for outreach coordinators on breast cancer environmental issues, as well as the transfer and consolidation of bioinformatics project data from four centers into a single Network Bioinformatics and Project Coordinating Center.
• Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins Medical Center: A gift of $1.43 million represents half of a novel Avon Foundation-funded collaboration with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. This unique partnership will bring together the resources of these world-class institutions in the Avon Foundation Breast Cancer Vaccine Collaborative to develop a cell-based breast cancer vaccine therapy and other immunotherapy in the treatment of breast cancer. The Avon Foundation's initial investment in 2002-2004 has moved the preclinical studies into breast cancer vaccine trials conducted in human beings.

In addition to the gifts announced at today’s ceremony, several numerous organizations in DC and the surrounding areas are beneficiaries of past Avon Foundation funds, including: Breast Cancer Resource Committee, Georgetown University, Howard University, Inova Health System Foundation, University of Virginia (Charlottesville, VA) and Whitman-Walker Clinic/Lesbian Services Program Breast Health Initiative, as well as a unique research funding partnership with the National Cancer Institute.

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, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The Foundation manages and disburses the net proceeds from the Avon Walks to support access to care and finding a cure for breast cancer nationwide, with funds awarded for awareness and education; screening and diagnosis; access to 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. From1992 through 2004, the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade has raised and awarded more than $350,000,000 in 50 countries worldwide to breast cancer research and care organizations. Funds are raised through a wide variety of special events, product sales, walks, runs, concerts and other initiatives in addition to the Avon Walks.

The complete 2005 Avon Walk series includes: Charlotte, NC (April 16-17); Washington, DC (April 30-May 1); Boston, MA (May 14-15); Chicago, IL (June 4-5); Denver, CO (June 25-26); San Francisco, CA (July 9-10); Los Angeles, CA (September 17-18); New York, NY (October 1-2).

The Avon Walk for Breast Cancer is generously supported by National Sponsors Novartis Oncology and RYKÄ, Official Sponsors Airplus for Her and Crystal Light, and Official Water FIJI,

For more information about the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer, visit www.avonwalk.org or call 877-WALK-AVON.